We have arrived in Gloire City, where the Pokémon Showcase Master Class is set to take place. I ask, "Serena, is that it?"

"What a gigantic castle!" Clemont says.

"We're finally here. The Gloire City Pokemon Showcase Master Class." Serena says.

"The big event we've been dreaming about." We are surprised to find Shauna arriving.

"Where the Kalos Queen will be crowned." Miette says as she also arrives.

"That's why we've all worked so hard to collect three Princess Keys, isn't it?" Nini is the third one to arrive.

"Well, looks like all of you have met before." And finally, Scarlet, or me, is here.

"We sure have. We all stood on the very same stage in the Rookie Class!" Miette says.

"And we're rivals till the very end." Nini adds.

"That's so cool you're all in the Master Class." Bonnie says.

"I'd say this is going to get a lot more challenging." Elline says.

"But I'm ready!" Serena says.

"So Ash, naturally you'll be cheering me on, won't you?" Miette asks.

"Yeah! I'll be cheering a lot for all of you!" Miette says.

"Even if Serena and I battle head-to-head?" Miette asks.

"In that case, I'll be cheering all I can for Serena!" I say.

"And what about me? What if Serena and I battle head-to-head?" Scarlet asks, and now I flinch a little. "Well..."

"Relax, I'm just joking, I know you want to cheer for Serena." Scarlet whispers in my ear, "Even though I'm a part of you."

Then the girls are having the competition with each other, and when the Master Showcase comes the next day, all of us are now in our seats, and we also find a lot of people watching.

As Monsieur Pierre takes the stage to welcome the audience and announce the start of the Master Class. He asks everyone to turn their attention to a part of the stage where several booths appear. Inside each booth is a Performer, who has to use three Princess Keys to open the door and access the stage.

"It's my pleasure to introduce you to our very special guest! Former Kalos Queen and well-known producer, she has launched the careers of countless performers throughout her career. Welcome Palermo! She's agreed to take on the role of special judge!"

It's Grandma! She is of course the Special Judge for this occasion. She says, "I'm very much looking forward to observing everyone's wonderful performances today. Good luck to all of you."

After that, Pierre introduces the current Kalos Queen Aria as she enters the stage together with her Delphox. She walks down a long staircase and heads to the center of the stage, where she greets her fans and the Performers competing for her title. Following Aria's speech, Monsieur Pierre starts explaining the rules, informing that the Master Class consists of Freestyle Performances only.

"What's up with that?" David asks.

"If I had to make a guess, I suppose the Theme Performance is intended to show off the strong bond between the performers and their Pokemon. They've come this far already and it must be assumed that the competitors are beyond those early stages." Clemont says.

Pierre continues explaining the tournament format, saying that Performers must perform with a single Pokémon in the first and second rounds, while the semifinals will feature Performers using two of their Pokémon. The winner of the semifinals will challenge Aria and, if successful, receive the prestigious title of Kalos Queen as well as a tiara.

Scarlet and Nini are in the first round, and Scarlet is using Chandelure, and Nini is using her Smoochhum. He explains that the round starts with a solo performance from each pair and then all three pairs perform at once. Scarlet seems to be doing a perfect job with Chandelure, and after the solo performances, it turns out to be just like a Battle round in the Contest, but of course, I'm not a sixth Grand Festival winner for nothing, and in the end, I'm the one that gets the most votes and advances to the next round.

After several rounds, Serena seems to be facing Miette in the first round. They all deliver good performances, but Serena comes out on top, earning the most votes and moving on to the second round. I guess it is time to do some mind-link with Scarlet.

When I'm backstage preparing, I notice Ash's mind linking to me as I know that the time has come. I see how Miette is overcoming her loss and congratulates Serena for her victory. Then Shauna also wins the final round. Then we continue to advance until Shauna, Serena, and I are the only ones left.

"Oh no. My heart is pounding!" Bonnie frowns.

"This will decide it all." Elline says.

I am the first one to perform, and I decide to go with Espeon and Glaceon. I start by telling Glaceon to use Icy Wind, which creates a lot of ice, and then Espeon uses Psychic to turn them into snow and then finishes with the two Eeveelutions dancing and creating sparkles in the air.

On Shauna's turn, she asks Ivysaur to use Vine Whip to move her around the stage while Flabébé uses Fairy Wind to leave a trail of pink dust behind Shauna. Then she commands Ivysaur to use Vine Whip to make a tornado out of the Fairy Wind, sending Shauna upwards. Shauna finishes her performance by having Flabébé use Moonblast while Ivysaur uses Solar Beam. The two moves collide and sparkles are sent down on them.

At the end of Shauna's performance, Monsieur Pierre welcomes Serena to the center of the stage. She begins by commanding Sylveon to use Swift, which is followed by Pancham's Stone Edge. Sylveon jumps over the pillars of rock and uses Fairy Wind from above, creating a tornado that lifts Serena and Pancham up in the air. The three of them pose in mid-air before landing, and while Pancham lands on his paw and Sylveon on her ribbon-like feelers without a hitch, Serena ends up hurting her hand. She loses her balance and is about to fall, but Sylveon manages to catch her using her feelers, safely placing her on stage.

Now it is time for the vote, and all of us decide to vote for Serena instead of Scarlet. Scarlet understands the decision because she understands that she's just a part of Ash. The voting ends and Pierre announces that Serena will be the one challenging the reigning Kalos Queen Aria in the final round.

I turn to Serena and smile, "Congratulations, Serena."

Shauna does the same and says, "Yeah, congratulations. Will you hold onto my dream? If you don't mind."

"Shauna, Scarlet..." Serena mutters.

"I'd be lying if I said I'm not upset, but you deserved it." I say, and Shauna just hugs Serena and says, "Do your very best for all of our sakes because you were the best of all of us."

Then after we leave, I spotted my grandma, and she says, "You could have done better than that performance. Why did you let it go?"

I say, "Grandma. You do know that I'm a boy disguising myself as a girl. And you also know that Serena and I are dating, I think she'll be the perfect Kalos Queen compared to me."

"I'm not mad at you, I'm not going to make the same mistakes I made with your mother. However, you did see Serena's performance in the last round, right?"

"Yeah..." I frown, and then we decide to visit Serena in the waiting room, Serena is surprised to see us. Palermo says, "Show me, come on, your wrist."

"But how did you know?" Serena asks, "Did Scarlet tell you?"

I say, "I don't need to tell her. By how you were moving is what we found out."

Grandma grabs her hand and looks, "I see you can barely make a fist. You'll need to forfeit the finals. You can't put on a proper performance like this. Much less defeat Aria."

I know Serena doesn't like to give up. She says, "This is our big dream. I had no real ambitions, but I finally had one with my Pokemon. We've made it this far, I don't want to stop 'til it's over!"

Grandma sighs before saying, "Seriously. You guys are so much alike. Just one performance. I can make it hold until then. But have a doctor look at it afterward. Promise that you'll do that, alright?"

"Yes!" After Serena leaves to prepare, my grandma sighs, "Your mother, Aria, and even your brothers and sisters. Everyone really doesn't like to give up until the very end..."

"I'm worried about Serena as well, like how Serena is also worried about me. But I also want her to win." I say to her.

Then we watch the performance with Aria and Serena. Serena is going to do with Pikachu, Sylveon, and Delphox. Their performance starts with Delphox using Flamethrower and Pikachu using Thunderbolt, and just as the two moves collide Sylveon hits them with Swift. Then Delphox uses her branch to start a ring of fire before tossing the branch to Serena so she can complete the ring. They all dance in the middle of the ring and Pikachu uses Icicle Crash, Sylveon jumps over the ice pillars and uses Fairy Wind, sending her Trainer and her teammates upward. Then Pikachu, Sylveon, and Delphox use Electro Ball, Swift, and Flamethrower to create an enormous flower, which explodes and showers them with sparkles that mark the end of the performance.

Aria comes next to defend her title. She starts by having Delphox use Mystical Fire upwards as Vivillon flies and uses Psybeam downwards so the two moves can collide in mid-air. Then she asks Aromatisse to use Reflect, creating multiple translucid circular platforms which Aria uses to jump as Vivillon catches her in the air and lifts her up. The audience members are very impressed and they rise up from their seats. She finishes with Delphox using Fire Blast, which explodes into sparkles that fall on them as they smile and strike an elegant pose.

After the performances are done, the voting time has come, and Pierre announces that Aria has successfully defended her crown.

"Serena did the best she could. She was great." Clemont says.

"And she's still got a dream to hold on to!" I say.

Monsieur Pierre asks Klefki to bring Aria her tiara. After being crowned, Aria goes on to talk to Serena, saying it was fun to stand on stage with her and that she wants to perform with Serena again sometime. Serena agrees and says that she will continue working hard and soon enough she will become Kalos Queen. Aria and Serena wave to the audience as Pierre brings the Gloire City Pokémon Showcase Master Class to a close.

Backstage, I'm with Serena in Scarlet form as we have a doctor bandaging Serena's wrist and telling her to take care.

Palermo comes and says, "How do you feel?"

"I'm feeling fine now. Thank you so-" "Don't ever push yourself again. Especially if you want to beat Aria."

"Yes, you're right." Serena frowns. "You said I couldn't beat Aria. I remember it exactly. Something Aria has that I don't, I think I know now what that is after watching her performance just now. I have lots to learn. My friends and Pokemon are always the ones who are there supporting me... Aria has a gift. She makes people smile. And she once gave me advice even though she didn't know me. She's a giving person. I know I've been on the receiving end until now. But I want to become queen so I can give back to everyone else, too! I want to give people strength, make them smile, give good advice - even give tough love. That means I've got to work so much harder! So I can be a good queen."

I see that Grandma is smiling, and she says, "Now that you realize that, you'll become an even better performer. Would you like to learn with me?"

"What are you talking about?" Serena asks.

"I'll teach you everything about being a performer." Serena says. "You don't have to answer right now. Give it some thought and let me know."

After that, I finally reunited with Scarlet now I get Scarlet's Pokemon back with me, though I have to transfer them all back to the manors because there are too many. Then we head outside as Serena and her rivals say their goodbyes. Though Shauna stays with us because Tierno and Trevor are actually coming here.

In the Pokemon Center, Serna's mother says that what matters is that Serena did her very best and tells her to move on to her next goal before she heads back to Vaniville Town.

At night, Serena is sitting outside with her Pokémon, and I approach and ask, "Your wrist is still hurt?"

"Oh no. I've been sitting here thinking." Serena says.

"About Grandma's offer? You know, when I lose a battle, I get so excited about what I'm gonna do next time. My next strategy. Then I know I'm gonna win." I say.

"It's great you're always so positive, Ash." Serena smiles. "It all seems to come so naturally for you."

"Seriously? I don't always know what to do. But then, if I really think about it, I'd rather do stuff! Because even if I goof up, I learn something. There's nothing we could ever do that's a waste of time!"

Serena smiles before hugging me, and I also hug back with a smile. Then it turns out that Serena wants to decline my grandma's offer, because she wants to continue traveling with us until the end. My grandma understands and she tells her to give her a call when she feels she is ready for the next step.

When we meet up with Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno again, I ask, "So why are you guys still here?"

Shauna says, "Hey, do you know what's about to happen? We're going to battle! We ARE Pokémon Trainers, after all!"

So Shauna wants to battle us, and she uses Delcatty, Goodra, and Greninja. I see that she's trying to use the other Pokemon that aren't on the stage to battle us. We battle her and we also win in the end. Shauna says, "Battles with friends are really, really exciting! You know, that was the first time for both of us to battle with our Pokémon!"

"You're right." Serena says.

Tierno says, "And now I'm next! Oh, uh...sorry to just throw that at you..."

"It's fine." I say as Tierno uses Talonflame, Roserade, and Crawdaunt to battle this time. I'm surprised that he isn't using Blastoise or other Pokemon, but he wants to give other Pokemon a try. In the end, we still defeat him.

"It's weird, but... I don't get that down when I lose to you. You know, Geosenge Town made me think a lot... If you guys hadn't been there, I wouldn't be dancing now, that's for sure. That made me want to get to know you guys better, and I thought a battle would be the best way to do that. It's kinda selfish of me, I guess. But it's also a way of thanking you!"

"That's so sweet." David says.

"Tierno... It's great when Pokémon Trainers like us can understand the hearts and minds of other Trainers and their Pokémon through battle. But before we do anything else, we should heal your Pokémon." Then Trevor heals up our Pokemon, and then he says, "Now it's my turn. I think I will follow the crowd and be your opponent as well. But this time it won't be about the Pokédex. It will be a Pokémon battle!"

Trevor is using a Raichu, an Aerodactyl, and a Florges to battle, and we also defeat him with ease. Though I was hoping to battle his Charizard. Trevor says, "You're even stronger than I thought! There is still so much I don't know. Do I just not have what it takes?"

Shauna says, "Wow! I don't think I've ever heard you worry about being weak or strong before, Trevor! ♪ You seem a lot bolder than you used to be. Is it because you went on a journey? Or maybe it's thanks to what you learned from being with your Pokémon, and with us--your friends!"

Serena says, "That reminds me, where is Calem?"

"He's off training with the Mega Evolution guru. He said friends are friends even if they can't be together." Tierno says.

"Indeed! Well, there's something we must attend to. Be seeing you!" Then Trevor and Tierno leave, and now Shauna is the one left. She says, "I'm so glad I went on a journey. I made some great friends. And thanks to my Li'l Froakie whom I met before we left, I was able to visit many places, meet a lot of nice people, and make many wonderful memories! ♪"

Then she gives us the HM for Waterfall, which I actually don't need it. Shauna says, "Even if you're battling without the Badge from Snowbelle City Gym, you can use Waterfall! I've gotta get going! See you!"

We bid farewell to her and we now head back to Route 19 so that we can go to Snowbelle City.

I'll end the chapter right now and this is the end of the Master Class Showcase. Now all that's left is the gym. I hope you like this chapter.

Ash and Serena's Pokemon:

Venusaur, Charizard x2, Blastoise, Pikachu x2, Alakazam, Gengar, Kangaskhan, Pinsir, Gyarados (Shiny), Aerodactyl, Ampharos, Scizor, Heracross, Houndoom, Tyranitar, Gardevoir (Shiny), Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Banette, Absol, Garchomp, Lucario, Samurott, Audino, Zoroark, Hydreigon, Chesnaught, Delphox, Greninja (Shiny), Diggersby, Talonflame, Vivillon x20, Pyroar, Florges (Rainbow), Gogoat, Pangoro, Furfrou, Meowstic x2, Aegislash, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Malamar, Barbaracle, Dragalge, Clawitzer, Heliolisk, Tyrantrum, Aurorus (Shiny), Sylveon, Hawlucha, Dedenne, Carbink, Goodra, Klefki, Trevenant, Gourgeist, Avalugg, Noivern, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie, Hoopa