Stand By Me (An Amourshipping Fanfiction)

Chapter 37: Falling into Place

Hello readers, welcome to Stand By Me again. This is your author MrPokefan123 presenting to you the next part of the story. Before we proceed, a big thank you to all of you who are reading this book. We hit 21K!!!!! I can't believe it. Thank you so much for all the love and support.

Anyways this will be a short chapter with a small twist at the end. After this is the Pokemon Masters Tournament. So with that out of the way, I present to you Chapter 37. Enjoy

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After Serena was crowned Kalos Queen and all the ceremonies were complete, everyone started to leave the performance hall. Serena was taken to a temporarily set up press room for a press conference. Aria, Pierre and Palermo were all there as she made her way to the press room. Ash was already there in the room, leaning on a wall and sipping orange juice. Once Serena entered the press immediately started bombarding her with questions. The showcase staff tried to get the room a little civilised but were failing to do so.

"Enough!!" Serena shouted in an authoritative tone which immediately silenced the once frantic reporters. "If you all want answers, stop behaving like wild Ursarings and ask in an orderly fashion." She requested/commanded like a queen. The room calmed down as those who had entered settled.

"Miss Alice, how does it feel to be the Kalos Queen after defeating the most successful Kalos Queen in history?" A reporter asked.

"It feels great. I couldn't have had a better predecessor and she made sure I was worthy of the title." She answered

"Ms Aria, now that your reign has ended after 5 years, what are your thoughts and what are your plans ahead?" Another reporter asked

"Well, I haven't really thought much apart from moving in with my boyfriend Alain. And yes it does feel bad to lose, but I am glad that I lost to Alice. I hope you do even better than me as Kalos Queen." She replied

"Ms Alice, do you have a special someone in your life just live Ms Aria currently mentioned? Or are you looking to start looking for someone now that you are the Queen?" A male reporter asked with a smug look.

"Sorry to disappoint all those eligible bachelors but I am already taken." Huge murmurs were heard after this. "And my boyfriend Greg is right there, sipping his favorite orange juice." Serena giggled as she pointed towards Ash. The whole crowd turned towards him while Ash just raised his juice container and said 'Hi'. Just as the press calmed down, Serena gave a signal to someone in the reporter crowd.

"Ms Alice, Alexa from Lumiose Times. So now that you're the Kalos Queen, what are your plans?" Alexa asked, just as Serena had told her earlier.

"To be honest, I don't want this title. I will be renouncing my title." Serena replied and the whole crowd was shocked, including Aria, Pierre and Palermo. Many people started asking questions as to how, why, etc.

"Please calm down and let me explain." Serena said and the crowd calmed down to some extent. She took a deep breath and started

"I know very well that the title of Kalos Queen is a very respected and treasured one in the entire region. I do not intend to be disrespectful in any way to anyone, however when I was coming here from Hoenn, ready to compete in Showcases, I met a girl named Serena Yvonne." The crowd again burst into murmurs but soon became quiet. "I know she may not be among us today but she was the one who told me the darkest secrets of being Kalos Queen. Please do not pester Aria with this because she doesn't have any knowledge about this, but I do know someone who does. Catherine." Serena called out. On that cue, Catherine came out along with several other former Kalos Queens. Palermo wanted to escape badly but she knew she can't.

"Thank you Ms Alice Gabena for letting us share the stage with you. The events I am going tell you about will shatter you to the core and may even shut down Showcases. But I request everyone to please not stop watching Showcases because of the horrendous acts of one woman. You are over Palermo." Catherine stated and the crowd was shocked again. Most people watching from the TV were shocked too. Catherine proceeded to explain what happened with all the Kalos Queens before Aria and to say the entire region of Kalos was fuming with rage would be an understatement. Some reporters removed their shoes and threw them on her face but were stopped by the police. After sometime, the Commissioner of Lumiose City Police arrived at the scene. Serena gave him the proof from the button camera and all the statements from the former Kalos Queens. Aria just sat there dumbfounded. The only reason she had been spared from this ordeal was because of her cousin and Uncle. She didn't even want to imagine what would have happened to her if not for her relations with them. The Police Commissioner arrested Palermo and the case was passed on to InterPol for further investigation.

"This won't be the end of me Alice. You'll not get away." Palermo shouted but Serena payed no regard to it. The reporters started to leave the conference room after all this.

"Please stop." Serena and Aria asked together. The reporters turned around and looked at their pleading faces. They all wanted to have no contact with Showcases but if it were not for Serena, they wouldn't have ever found out about this. So they all decided to stay behind. The cameras were turned on as per their instruction.

"We all would like to make a request to you and all the others watching. I have seen how much joy Showcases give to people and I know this must hurt badly but please give Showcases a second chance. Please do not give up on us and all those young innocent girls who look forward to be performers. I know it is not my or Aria's place to say this because we never went through the horrible ordeal that these other women standing beside us have gone through, but we all agree on one thing. Please let Showcases survive. I know it will be a lot of time before they start to thrive like they did before this incident, but please do support us. We promise you that just like we exposed Palermo, we all will try our best to revive Showcases to their former glory and ensure that no such thing happens again." Serena finished her monologue.

The crowd of reporters was silent for some time, digesting all that she said but then burst into a huge applause. Many of the people watching from their homes also cheered for them. It was like a fire was ignited amongst everyone after seeing that despite the terrible ordeal these women underwent, they were ready to help out in reviving the same thing that supposedly caused it. They stated that the details will be provided later and after the long press conference, Serena was finally free. She walked upto Ash, gave him a deep passionate kiss and they went to their room in the pokemon center, hand in hand.

Team Rocket Headquarters, Kanto Region.

Giovanni was sitting in his office reading something about legendary pokemon. Even though he had a good plan, he knew pride comes before the fall. Indeed he was proud of himself, but he still liked to keep tabs on all the legendaries he would soon have under his control. There was a knock on his door and his assistant entered.

"So is everything ready?" Giovanni asked without looking up from his device.

"Yes Sir, Archie and Maxie were already here as you know, Cyrus and Ghetsis have finally agreed and Lysandre is finally here as well." She replied.

"Good. Our plan is falling into place finally. Anything else."

"Sir there has been a small development in Kalos. Palermo has been caught."  Giovanni raised an eyebrow at this.

"Hmm, I guess this was long overdue. She did help us keep Team Rocket on track with those women she brought for our out-of-control members but her services have diminished a lot. Anyways relieve her." Giovanni commanded.

"From jail Sir?"

"No, relieve her of her life." He replied in a dark tone and went back to his research in legendary pokemon.