Serena had practiced the routine with her Pokémon over a hundred times over the next three days. Getting it down to the mark, tweaking little bits until they were perfect. Committing it to memory, getting their cues all right. It had been a lot of hard work. Ash had helped her, which made thing easier, but it had still been a hard task to get everything done and ready to go.
It finally came to the day when she had to perform. She stood in front of the mirror in her room, staring at her reflection, contemplating everything she had learnt about her performances up until this point. From every failure there was a lesson to be learnt, and Serena had learnt them all. Now all that there was left to do was to put it all to action. There felt to be a lot of pressure this time around. Her last performance had gone well, so it felt like she now owed people a bigger show.
She heard a knock on her door. It was quite a rapid and heavy knock. Ash's. "Serena, it's time. You ready?"
Serena went and opened the door, revealing it was indeed Ash. "Yeah, I'm ready."
"You feeling alright?"
"Nervous. Worse than last time. But that aside, I'm fine."
Ash smiled. "You'll be great. I know it. You've worked hard on this, it'll pay off, you'll see."
Serena nodded and smiled back at Ash. "You always know just what to say."
"Let's go, Serena. I can't wait to see you win this thing." He held out his hand for her, which she took smiling.
"You think I'll win?"
"I believe in you, Serena. You can win this one, I know it."
The two made their way to the lobby, where they met Bonnie and Clemont, and made their way to the Performance Hall. It seemed to be a big thing in Forestcove town, as there were lots of people going to watch the performance, and lot of competitors were there too. Many of them looked to be first timers, nervous and excited, while even more appeared to be experienced performers, ready to show off the fruits of their experience and hours of labor. It had been no different for Serena during her debut, but she still got the same chills she did when she walked up the steps to the performance stage in her previous attempts. Her first one ended in failure, though her second one had gone much better, placing in the top ten. Now she was aiming for number one.
The group lined up together, waiting to sign Serena into the performance. Around them were some performers who were taking this time to get in some last minute practice. One of the performers had an Eevee, and it's performance consisted of using Double Team and wish, which created a starry glitter that fell around both trainer and Pokémon. Some Performers were using some more unorthodox Pokémon for performing, such as a Klang, or a Girafarig, or a Magnazone.
Serena looked at one of her Pokèballs, the one which contained Pancham. Today was going to be Panchams performing debut, something it had been looking forward to for a long while now. She was certain that Pancham was more than ready to go. She let Pancham out of its Pokèball, and knelt down besides it. "You're ready, right Pancham? You and me, we're gonna win this and take home the gold!"
Pancham pumped it's fist back at Serena, signalizing its confidence. "Cham, Pancham!"
"Pancham looks ready to go." Clemont commented, seeing the energy Pancham had.
"Well, Pancham has been looking forward to performing for a while now. I think it was starting to get a bit frustrating for it. I'm just glad that Pancham seems so ready for this." Serena said, watching as Pancham began to do stretches, preparing itself for its performance.
"Confidence is defiantly good." Ash commented, complimenting Pancham. "You feeling confident, Serena?"
Serena nodded. "Still nervous, but that's got to be normal, right?"
"Yeah. Even now, when I challenge a gym, I find it hard to think straight. And I've been doing that for years." Ash told her.
"It's good to be a little nervous. It stops you from being over-confident. If you have too much confidence, it can lead to arrogance, and then you make mistakes." Clemont said, speaking as a Gym Leader, he had faced opponents who has been over-confident, and those who were overly-nervous. He had found that those with a mix had often been the ones who had been victorious, as they never over or underestimated him as a trainer, or themselves and their own abilities.
Serena nodded. "You're right, guys. I just have to stay calm, and it'll be fine. Plus, I'm sure Pancham would be great even if I wasn't there, wouldn't you?"
Their conversation continued until they reached the front desk. Serena registered her name, and the Pokémon she would be using. Once that was all done, she was now eligible to compete today. Ash walked with her towards the rooms where the Performers were allowed to change and prepare for the show.
"I know I keep saying this, but good luck." Ash said to his girlfriend. "I just know your gonna be great."
Without warning, Serena threw herself at Ash, tightly hugging him. Unlike previously, Ash had gotten used to this by now, and instantly responded with a hug of his own. Serena said to him, "You've helped me out so much with this. Before we confessed to each other. After we confessed to each other. You've always helped me out before. This isn't just my performance. It's ours. And I promise, I'll make sure our performance is a huge success."
Ash smiled. "It'll be the best one on stage."
Ash made his way back to Bonnie and Clemont who had been waiting for him near the reception area. Bonnie was interacting with a Lilipup, almost certainly belonging to a trainer here, seemingly both in awe of a Pokémon she had never seen before, and entranced by the cuteness of it. Clemont sat on one of the seats provided by the Performance hall, near to Bonnie, watching her to make sure she didn't get into trouble, but also scanning through Serena's competition. There were plenty of Pokémon he, as a gym leader, had not seen before. He had had to warn Bonnie several times to not annoy or disturb other trainers Pokémon, but in this case, a friendly trainer who owned the Lilipup had told Clemont that it was okay.
Ash waved over Clemont and Bonnie. Clemont waved back, and turned to get Bonnie. Bonnie gave the Lilipup a goodbye cuddle and thanked it's trainer for letting her play with it, before joining her brother in joining Ash.
"Well, she's all ready." Ash said, letting out a worried sigh. While he was confident that she would be great, he remembered how upset and depressed she was after her first performance attempt. It hurt him to see her like that, even then. He never wanted to see her like that again.
"You sound worried. What happened to that confident Ash that was giving her advice not long ago?" Clemont asked, in a slightly mocking, jokey tone.
"She's put a lot into this. I hope she does well. I have faith in her, yeah, but still..." Ash said quietly, glancing back at the room Serena had just entered.
Clemont smiled slightly. He could see Ash really, truly cared for Serena. It was so obvious now, since they had gotten together. He had hid it well during their journey until that point, he had to admit. Either that, or he hadn't developed romantic feelings for her. How he did it didn't matter. He honestly felt glad to have met them, and for them to have met one another. He sighed, and said, "Hard work pays off. You know that. You've worked hard for your whole journey, right? You've got four badges now for the Kalos league. And I'll bet you've got even more from other regions, right?"
Ash did some quick adding up in his head. "Eight gym badges from five regions, and four from the Orange league, as well as winning that one."
"And you worked for all that. Serena's been practicing this none stop since her last performance. She'll be fine, and you know it." Clemont reasoned.
"Yeah! Serena's been working super hard! She's going to impress everyone!" Bonnie said, adding in.
Ash reluctantly smiled. They had valid points. He felt lucky to have such great friends. "Yeah, you're right. C'mon, let's get going. We need to find our seats."
Serena sat in front of the mirror with a hairbrush, running it through her hair. She had spent the last few minutes before the performances began. Pancham stood nearby, mentally preparing itself for its first public performance with Serena. Pancham seemed to have more confidence that Serena did, which was good, Serena thought, with any luck, she and Pancham might be able to get away with this solely on Panchams raw energy, it certainly had the raw energy to spare. Serena shook her head after thinking that, she couldn't rely on Pancham like that alone. She had to do her bit too. She slapped her cheeks with both hands, trying to focus herself.
"I've done this twice now. Why am I so nervous this time around?..." She asked herself silently, running her hands through her hair. Silky smooth. She blushed, wondering if Ash would like her hair like this. She toyed with the idea of brushing her hair again before falling asleep, and asking Ash if he would run his hands though her hair, see if he liked it like that or not.
"Wait... Is Ash the reason I'm so nervous?" She suddenly thought. It made sense, actually. Her previous performances, she had prepared and produced herself, and she had been in them, and aimed high solely for herself and her Pokémon. Now, Ash had been helping her out recently, giving her advice, and practicing with her. It felt like their performance, and Serena loved what they had produced together. It could never have been as good as it was without his help, but now, like she had said before, it was their performance.
Suddenly, it hit her, she wasn't nervous for herself. She was nervous for Ash, not so much for herself. She didn't want all the effort Ash had put into helping her go to waste, for him to feel like he had wasted his time, or that she simply wasn't good enough to practice with.
She felt so upset, suddenly. Her confidence suddenly fled her body, replaced only with angst and worry. She was terrified that if she failed, Ash would decide he didn't want her anymore. That would kill her. She'd rather be dead that go on without Ash. She knew it was never going to happen, but the part of a person which always forces you to consider nothing but the negatives took over. 'What's if's and 'but maybe's filled Serena's head, making her fear only the worst. Ash should be spending his time focusing on the Kalos league, so why should he waste it helping a terrible performer like her?
She forced herself to calm down. She had to stay strong, not only for herself and her Pokémon, but for Ash as well. It was their performance, not just hers, and if she wanted to make sure all the efforts he had put into helping her performance hadn't gone to waste, that they had gone towards helping her win. The thoughts she had had actually worried her. She snapped back into reality, and continued brushing her hair.
"I love you, Ash..." She whispered to herself, touching her lips, the lips that had kissed Ash not too long ago.
She let out a heavy sigh. She just had to focus. She glanced towards Pancham, who was giving Serena a worried look, showing concern for its trainer. She smiled towards Pancham. "Right, sorry about that. I'm better now." She said working up some enthusiasm for their performance. She thought to herself, how much she had riding on this. How much was relying on her winning. She swallowed. She couldn't afford to lose here.
Ash, Clemont and Bonnie were sat on the second floor of seats, close to the front. They had a good view of the stage, and it would be easy for anyone in stage to see them. Surrounding them was a sea of onlookers, patiently waiting for the Showcase to begin. It was a big deal apparently in Forestcove Town. The town was far out of the way, so it made sense that big events like these didn't get here very often.
"Ash, you've been working with Serena on her performance, right?" Bonnie asked Ash, tugging on his jacket.
"Yeah."
"How good is it? Is it gonna be super-special-incredible?!"
Ash smiled at Bonnie's excitable nature, and her enthusiasm for anything Pokémon related. Especially whenever Serena was involved. However, he wasn't going to let her find out about Serena's performance so easily. "You're gonna have to wait and see."
Bonnie sunk in her chair. "No fair." Ash and Clemont both laughed at this.
"I can't wait to see it. You two wouldn't let us watch you while you worked, and I'm really curious to see what you came up with." Clemont said to Ash.
Ash grinned. "It'll be a good one." He looked again towards the stage. 'That is if she doesn't panic...'
He was worried about her. She seemed more nervous than usual. But he stayed quiet. No reason to make Clemont and Bonnie worry about her too.
With that, the lights in the Performance hall began to dim down until they were completely off, during which time, the noise in the hall went down with it, as the audience realized the show was about to begin.
"Here we go." Ash whispered.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Forestcove Town Pokémon Showcase!" The announcer bellowed throughout the speakers placed all over the room. Once he had finished saying this, a chorus of cheers filled the room, Bonnie's and Ash's included. The announcer then asked for quiet, and went through the the rules of a Showcase for the first timers, and reminding returning patrons too. "We are pleased to announce we have been graced with a turnout of 40 Performers today for our showcase, and so, we can assure you a show you won't forget for a long time!"
"40 performers?" Bonnie repeated.
"That's a lot of competition for Serena. And the majority seem more experienced than her." Clemont said.
Ash didn't move his view from directly on the stage. "She'll be fine. Just watch."
"So, without further ado, let us begin with the show!"
And so, the performances began. The Showcase started off strong with a Trainer and her Altaria using a combination of Mist and Safeguard, concealing their performance partially, before the trainer began to juggle large rings into the air, all of which Altaria was able to fly through using its speed, before blasting all of the rings into the air with a whirlwind, and concealing its and its trainers retreat from the stage using explosions produced from a Draco Meteor. The bar had been set high.
One by one, Performers began to display their various acts and shows. Some of which ended in an embarrassing failure for the participant. While many in the audience laughed at some of the spectacular failures, Ash felt nothing but sympathy for them, remembering how it had affected Serena. The same though had also affected Bonnie and Clemont.
There were some truly impressive performances, and the quality of the Showcase kept raising. Some magnificent combinations and routines had been formed over the preparation time. It was hard to believe that this was still the rookie class. Some very stiff competition for Serena.
After a performer who had used a Pidgeotto had finished, and the curtains had closed, the announcer cleared his throat, and said, "Next up, we have a rising star in Pokémon Showcases, who impressed the judges in her last Showcase, but didn't quite make the cut, let us all welcome Serena of Vaniville Town!"
"Here she is!" Bonnie yelled with excitement.
"This is it!" Clemont said with a big grin on his face.
Ash smiled at no one in particular. He closed his eyes, remembering all the training they had done. The choreography, the moves, their effect, how it lasted, and how it looked. Ash opened his eyes again, and said to himself, "You show these rookies whose gonna be the next Kalos Queen, Serena."
A round of applause followed, and the curtains were drawn back. There stood assent, in the dress her mother had bought for her to use in Showcases. Her hair was brushed, and her outfit spotless. To her side, stood Pancham, wearing some clothing that Serena had made herself. On the frame of its glasses, there appeared to be two small containers. Both of them stood upright, neither moving. Ash grinned. He remembered this.
They stood like this for approximately 7 seconds, just long enough that people began to wonder if she was actually about to do anything, before Serena muttered under her breath, loud enough so that only Pancham could hear her. At the same time, she tapped her leg with her fingers. "One, two, three, go!"
Pancham burst into life, and began to perform the dance moves it had been showing off since it joined the group. After roughly 5 seconds, it leaped down from the podium it stood on, it's hands glowing, and upon hitting the ground, it went shooting right back up again on a rock, thanks to the use of its Stone Edge move. It created platforms which only got higher as they went up, until it reached the ceiling.
On the ground, Serena wasn't doing anything special in particular. She simply stepped down the podium, and closed her arms towards her waist, so that her left hand reached a container on the right hand side of her waist, and vies versa for the right hand. The pulled her arms back to their respective sides, and flicked the containers open, which had been filled with silver glitter, sending out a shot of silver glitter at 45 degree angles either side of her.
Up top, Pancham had removed the containers fixed to its glasses, which were also filled with glitter, and, instead of firing them in a straight line, Pancham's trajectory was more curved, into two semi circles, which met the lines Serena had fired. Pancham then leaped down, being caught by its trainer, then thrown forward into a flip, creating a platform with Stone Edge that raised both of them to the top.
Serena yelled out to her Pancham the only command it needed. "Use Dark Pulse!"
Pancham did as instructed, firing a Dark Pulse at the glitter lines, and it was only when this was done did the audience see the effects of their efforts.
A dark, Purple Heart, created from the light the Dark Pulse emitted, became visible. Upon further inspection also, the platforms Pancham had made had represented a stony backdrop, and the final platform stood in the center of it, when Serena and her Pokémon stood once the show was over.
The audience erupted into a explosion of applause and cheers. It had received the most positive response yet. Ash stood up from his seat, and cheered and clapped louder than anyone else in the entire Showcase hall. Serena was able to see him, and smiled softly, hoping he was proud of her.
The group walked together back to the Pokémon center, as Serena held onto a silver medal.
"Second place! That's incredible for a third time performer! It's practically never been heard of before!" Clemont praised her, congratulating her on her place In The showcase.
"Your performance was super pretty, Serena!" Bonnie added in, jumping up and down next to Serena.
Serena had achieved second place in the showcase. The very next performer after her had won the whole thing, using a fire display with an Arcanine. Serena was actually very proud of her placing this time. Second place, and taking away a silver medal from the event. It wasn't a gold medal, but it was something.
Ash couldn't stop himself from smiling at her ever since he had meet up with her again after the Showcase. So she hadn't finished first. So what? She had done her best, and came in second place. She had only just a small way to go to taking the gold next time.
"I thought you'd be upset with me because I didn't win..." Serena had said when Ash had congratulated her.
Ash had been simply dumbfounded. "Are you kidding me? That was incredible? Who cares that you didn't win? You gave it your all, and you didn't give in, and you were rewarded with second place! That means you've only got a small few steps to climb before you reach the top! Why would I be upset?"
Serena had began to tear up at his kind words, while saying, "You spent so much time training with me... Time you could have spent training for your next gym battle... I-" she had then been cut off by Ash kissing her lips, silencing her breaking voice. She had been shocked at first, her eyes wide open, but it hadn't taken her long to simply close her eyes and kiss Ash back.
Once they had separated, Ash smiled at her brightly, and gave her his toothy grin. "I couldn't be more proud to call you my girlfriend. No matter what happens, no matter how much time I spend training with you, no matter how much time it takes away from my training with my own Pokémon, I will never think any differently of you. I love you, Serena."
"Ash..."
Presently, Ash had been silently smiling at her, holding her right hand with his left, it their hands, they both held the neck holder of the silver medal, with the metallic part of the medal dangling below their intertwined fingers. Serena had insisted that they hold hands like this. It had been their win, not just hers, and this proved it.