𝒯 𝒽 𝑒 𝒲 𝒶 𝓎 𝒲 𝑒 𝒲 𝒾 𝓁 𝓁 𝐵 𝑒

Chapter 17: A Chance Encounter With Royalty

"No way!" Bonnie replied stubbornly. "I don't wanna be anywhere near that Selene!"

The older boy sighed. "Bonnie, you really should be nicer to her. How are you going to be a good auntie if you're going to behave that way all the time around your niece?"

The little girl looked away and harrumphed. "Maybe she should have thought about it before she went all willy-nilly and touched Squishy without asking first!"

"Nenene..." Dedenne squeaked, looking at its caretaker with concern. As for Squishy, it looked up at Bonnie with a look of disapproval.

"You're still hung up over that...?" Clemont deadpanned.

At her personal viewing booth, Aria spotted Ash and his group as they left the auditorium in a hurry. At first, she was a little confused when she only recognized Ash out of everyone else in that small group, but she then brushed it off. After all, she could tell Serena and her friends had a knack of befriending anyone they came across along the way.

At that moment, Aria flashed back to her first encounter with Serena in person. Unlike herself, Serena had the support of her friends all the way through her performing career...

"Palermo?" she suddenly spoke up.

"Yes, Aria?" Palermo replied.

The woman turned her head to look at her, and Aria suddenly felt slightly intimidated by how slowly her mentor made that movement. But she stomached her feelings and said the first thing that came to the top of her head.

"I need to step out for a bit. I have a bathroom emergency."

Palermo blinked once with surprise, and Aria knew why. She never excused herself before whenever she was a guest at a special Showcase-related event. She always had all of her personal matters and emergencies settled before thrusting herself out into the spotlight. Aria already started to regret this last-minute decision, and yet, she felt her heart speaking for her.

"I know it's a little sudden and unconventional, but-"

"By all means, Aria," Palermo interrupted, "go on ahead." She then gazed out coldly at Alouette, Elma, and Lily. "It's not like you'll be missing anything important..."

Aria narrowed her eyes slightly at Palermo's view of the Performers who conveniently weren't Serena, but nevertheless, she seized her chance.

"Thank you, Palermo."

Bowing her head for the quickest moment, the Kalos Queen then rushed out of the booth, a little too quickly for her own comfort. Now that she was out in the hallway, Aria looked around for a brief moment, quickly noticing a man with wavy, neatly-combed green hair with golden streaks talking silently on his cellphone. Once the man hung up and returned to his private booth, leaving her all alone in the hallway, Aria seized her opportunity.

She removed her fancy, long white gloves and her signature light-blue bow. Then, she procured a pair of black, square-shaped glasses and put them over her shining, dazzling red eyes.

"Alright, Ariana," she said softly to herself. "It's time for you to shine."

"Is that better, Celebi?"

"Biiiii..."

Selene giggled and stroked one of Celebi's antennae gently and lovingly. The Time Travel Pokémon cooed at the seven-year-old girl's touch and snuggled at her chest even more. Ash, Nate, Pikachu, and Pichu smiled and watched all of this from the opposite side of the group's small, circular table, set up in the middle of a decent-sized food court.

"Celebi seems to like you a lot, Selene," Ash said.

"Pika pika-chu," Pikachu added in agreement.

"Well, of course!" Selene replied, looking up with the cheekiest smile. "Pokémon love me!"