A Poké-Ball fell on the ground. It shook once. Twice. Three times...

And then the Pokémon violently broke free, causing the startled observants to tumble backwards. Evidently, Goh had been attempting to catch an Altaria with little success.

After its breakout, the Humming Pokémon grew tired of this game decided to fly away.

"Aw man..." Goh said, sitting on the ground in defeat. "Just when I finally found an Altaria..."

Goh wasn't dressed in his usual attire, but rather wore something similar to Chloe's school uniform back when she still attended.

"Uh... Goh...?" Ash said, pointing to the scared little creature resting on his shoulder, ready to burst into tears at any moment.

"Nonono! It's okay, Sobble! See? Altaria's not here anymore..." Goh said in a soothing tone, trying his best to calm down his Sobble before they all began to cry.

To everyone's surprise, Sobble actually managed to calm down before it cried. With that revelation, Ash and Goh breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Professor Cerise, Serena and Chloe walked out of the Laboratory, Chloe once more dressed in her school uniform.

"I must admit, it looks great on you!" Chloe commented.

Goh chuckled and decided to show off. "Why, off course! You gotta admit that everything looks good on me!"

Chloe immediately regretted her actions. "Whatever... oh well. See you later!"

The smug smile vanished off of Goh's face, a look of despare replacing it as he was practically dragged to their old school by Chloe.

"Yeah... see ya..." he said.

"Have a great time!" Ash, Serena and Professor Cerise said, giving them all a wave goodbye.

"So... remind me again why they're going to school?" Serena asked. "Chloe hasn't been there since she joined us and I don't think I've ever seen Goh going there..."

"Their occupation as Research Fellows counts as work-study." Professor Cerise explained. "But this expedition is mandatory, and I figured, I'm sending you guys to that general area anyways so they might as well attend school one more time..."

"So, where are we going?" Ash asked.

Professor Cerise showed them a picture of some grasslands right at the outskirts of Centra City.

"There have been sightings of a mysterious Eevee over there..." Professor Cerise explained. "I want you to check the place out and get information on that Eevee!"

"Awesome!" Ash said. "Well, looks like it'll be just you and me, Serena!"

Serena's cheeked flashed red for a second beforr returning to normal. "Right! This should be fun!"

.......................................................................

"So how come you're not doing anything?" Regina asked.

Regina was apparently studying in the same class that Goh and Chloe used to study in, and now the three of them finally got the chance to do something together in that general environment.

"What do you mean?" Chloe answered Regina's question with a second question.

"I mean that, the people you're travelling with all have a goal..." Regina explained herself. "That guy who won the Tag-Battle Tournament, Ash? I could see that he's serious about the PML. That honey-blond girl, Serena? I think I saw her on TV doing a Showcase, so she wants to be a Performer. Your boyfriend, Goh..."

"Hold your Horseas, Regina! He's not my boyfriend..." Chloe said, though a hint of pink was forming in her cheeks.

"Appologies..." Regina gave a bow. "I mean, your friend, Goh, never once stops talking about his goal of catching Mew..."

"Poké-Ball go!" Goh exclaimed attempting to add a new addition to his collection.

Grookey has been registered to your Pokédex.

"Alright! I caught a Grookey!" Goh exclaimed, Scorbunny and Sobble jumping for joy with him.

"So what do you want to do with your Pokémon?" Regina continued.

"At the moment, nothing..." Chloe answered, to Regina's surprise.

"What? How come?!"

"Look, everybody decided that I'm gonna have to do something related to Pokémon simply because I'm a Professor's daughter. And I hate that!" Chloe explained. "That came out during my last assignment before this trip. About 'my dreams for the future'..."

"Oh... okay, sorry..." Regina apologized again, moving her body as if she was trying to shrink.

"Don't worry!" Chloe replied with a smile. "My mom told me that the day will come where I will be able to decide for myself! So there's nothing to worry about..."

"That's kinda like Serena..." Goh said, suddenly joining up with the two.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Goh?" Chloe asked.

"When she first joined our little research group, she didn't have any idea what she wanted to do..."

"Really?" Chloe asked, amazed. "Serena always seemed so laser focused on dethroning Aria, I just assumed that was what she wanted to do from the start..."

"Nope." Goh continued. "You see, her mother wanted her to be a Rhyhorn Racer just like her, but Serena never wanted to do that. And it wasn't until she met with someone who was already in the business, that she understood what she wanted to do..."

Chloe's eyes widened at the realization that her and Serena were more similar than she ever thought. Maybe it was time she started to get to know her other research fellows.

"Tell you what..." Goh said. "You don't know what you wanna do, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So I suggest you try everything! Think of yourself as an Eevee. You have so many options to what you can evolve into, but only one shot to make it count. So, as an Eevee, you should hang out with and learn from your Evolved forms to decide which one suits you the most!"

"I think you lost me when you compared me to an Eevee..." Chloe said.

"What I'm trying to say is, try a bit of everything. Have a battle, perform in a Showcase, try to catch a new Pokémon, etc... the world is your Cloyster, Chloe! All you gotta do is explore it!"

"I, for one, think that is a splendid idea!" Regina commented.

Chloe didn't reply. She just looked on ahead, thoughtful.

.......................................................................

Ash and Serena were walking around the grassy meadow Professor Cerise sent them to. While Ash was looking for that Eevee, Serena was busy doing something else: watching a video of Monsieur Pierre on her phone.

"Ze next Pokémon Showcase will take place in just two weeks! We'll be seeing all of you performers there!"

"You excited about your next Showcase?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, a lot..." Serena said. "I'm gonna win this Showcase and get my Princess Key!"

"That's the spirit!" Ash said as he continued walking, not noticing until a few seconds later that Serena had stopped. "Is something wrong?"

"I've gotta do so much more work on my routine... there's not much time and... I've still got so much to do!" She admitted.

"Hey, there's lots of stuff I still need to do too!" Ash said, Pikachu hopping on his shoulder. "But I'm sure you'll do great! As long as you give it your absolute all, you should have no regrets! And in the meantime, if you want, I could help you train!"

"Really?"

"Sure! I mean, I just went up against Pryce! How hard can Performing be?" Ash took out his Poké-Balls. "Come on out, everybody!"

In an instant Frogadier, Grovyle, Rockruff and Chimchar popped out of their Poké-Balls.

Serena chuckled at Ash's remark, but decided to accept his generous offer. "Alright, come out!"

Fennekin and Pancham popped out of their respective Poké-Balls as well.

...

"Lazy twerps with nothing to do!" Jessie muttered as she watched Ash and Serena through some binoculars.

"True, though I must say I'm a little bit envious of their care-free attitude..." James replied.

"Yea, me too!" Meowth replied as James and Wobbuffet yawned. "Sometimes a nap's just wat the doctor ordered. 'Course that wont happen while te pest's still here!"

The four turned around to see Morpeko nuzzling up to James' back. Ever since they first encountered Morpeko, it hadn't given them a moment of peace.

"Save your laziness for another day!" Jessie growled, giving James, Meowth and Wobbuffet a spook. But not Morpeko. "That Showcase the Twerpette's entering? I'm entering too! But this time I'll win! Oh yes! Daintily dancing towards Showcase Queen!"

James sighed. "I'd rather take a nap..."

Morpeko did not take kindly to Jessie's earlier outburst (or her delusions of grandure). It's body glowed yellow and once it subsided, it looked... different.

"Hey... Morpeko... what's with the switch?" James asked, a little afraid.

"It looks hangry!" Meowth added.

Morpeko then formed a wheel of energy around its body. The outer rim was light blue and the inner rim was red. The Two-Sided Pokémon then charged at its supposed comrades, causing a huge explosion.

...

"Man, this Showcase thibg's harder than I thought..." Ash commented, looking completely exhausted.

Serena giggled. "We're all good at different things..."

Before the two could say anything else, an explosion rocked a nearby area and sent a powerful shockwave towards the two Trainers. The shockwave was strong enough to sweep Serena's ribbon off her wrist, and sent it flying away from them.

"My ribbon!" Serena exclaimed. She quickly ran after it, with Ash and all their Pokémon shortly behind her.

...

"What was that?!" Goh cried out after hearing the explosion.

"I don't know, but it seemed to have come from that way..." Regina answered, pointing towards where the explosion was heard.

"That's where Ash and Serena went!" Goh exclaimed. "We gotta go help them!"

"What?! Goh! The teacher's going to call for an evacuation order any second! She's going to count heads and notice you're missing!" Chloe protested.

"I'll send her my location!" Goh stated. "But right now, I'm going to help my friends!"

As Goh ran away, Chloe growled in frustration. "He always does stuff like that!" She stated angrily as she ran after him.

Regina thought about what she should do for a moment, but in the end, decided to run after them to help them out.

...

A

sh, Serena and their Pokémon ran down a hill to get Serena's ribbon. It wasn't long before Pancham located it and triumphantly raised it above its head before taking notice of something in front of them.

Ash, Serena and Fennekin arrived shortly there after. Serena thanked Pancham for finding her ribbon, but noticed that it was transfixed by something. She followed Pancham's gaze until it landed on an Eevee. The tiny Evolution Pokémon was dancing and twirling around with some Zigzagoon, a Lombre, a Seedot and two Whismur.

"Check it out, it's an Eevee..." Ash said as Serena checked her Rotom-Phone.

Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon
A Normal type

Because of its unstable DNA, Eevee possesses a wide variety of evolutionary possibilities hidden inside.

"Look at it go!" Ash said.

"It obviously likes to dance..." she kept mumbling. "It's so light on its feet..."

"Hey! Are you guys alright?!" Goh screamed, having just found Ash and Serena.

Eevee stopped in its tracks and looked directly at Serena as Goh stopped in front of Ash. Not a moment later, Eevee bolted away from its dancing spot, its fellow dancers scattering.

"Eevee, wait!" Serena cried out.

"Ah man! It ran away!" Ash lamented. "Why'd you have to spook it like that, Goh?"

"I heard an explosion and came here to check if you guys were alright..." Goh explained, Chloe and Regina only now arriving at the scene.

"We're alright..." Ash said. "But that dancing Eevee ran away..."

"What? You really just saw a dancing Eevee?" Chloe asked.

"Yes." Serena answered. "And it moved so beautifuly! Like it was dancing on air!"

"Yeah, and it was moving at the exact same pace as some other Pokémon..." Ash added. "It almost looked like Eevee was immitating them..."

"Oops..." Goh scratched the back of his head. "Sorry I scared it..."

"I felt like when I watched Eevee dancing I might be able to come up with a brand new routine!" Serena proudly exclaimed.

"You came up with a routine just by seeing it dance?" Chloe asked.

"Yep!"

Chloe smiled. "Then we gotta see its dance moves ourselves!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah! That would be great!" Ash exclaimed.

"And this time, be sure not to scare it away..." Chloe teased Goh a bit.

"Yeah... I got it..." Goh muttered under his breath.

...

Despite the hit they suffered, the Chapter isn't even halfway over so Team Rocket hadn't blasted off yet, they kept watching Ash and Serena despite being covered in soot.

"That Eevee's unbeli-Eevee-ble!" Jessie exclaimed. "It's the ultimate Pokémon for an even more elegant performance!"

"Ey! Don't fuh-get about me!" Meowth said. "I can cut a rug!"

The Scratch Cat Pokémon began to perform a dance routine, however by this point, nobody was paying attention.

...

Ash, Serena, Goh, Chloe and Regina set out to look for the dancing Eevee.

"I'm sure Eevee must live somewhere around here..." Serena said.

"We can cover more ground if we split up..." Goh suggested.

"Yeah, good idea, Goh!" Ash replied.

"So, will it be a problem if I pair up with Serena?" Chloe asked.

"Not with me, but she's the one you gotta ask..." Goh said.

Chloe turned to look at Serena. Serena hesitated for a moment. She looked at Ash, who was already forming some plan with Goh. She eventually looked back at Chloe with a wide smile.

"Sure! Sounds like a great idea!"

"Great, so Regina, wanna come with us?" Goh asked. "I don't think anybody should be left alone right now..."

"Yes. That would be great!" Regina replied.

"Alright, if we haven't found Eevee in an hour we'll meet up again here, kay?" Ash suggested.

Everybody nodded and they all set off.

...

"So, Serena... I have a question..." Chloe said as she and Serena were walking through the field looking for Eevee, Yamper sniffing the ground a few feet in front of them.

"Alright, what is it?" Serena replied.

"What set you down the path of Showcases?"

Serena blinked, not expecting the question.

"It's just that, I can't decide what I want to do with my life... in fact, Goh just compared me to an indicisive Eevee earlier today... and I got curious about how you decided what to do..."

Serena smiled. "Wow! You're just like me when I started!" She said. "I started travelling without any sort of dreams or goals to aim for... but, when I first got a taste of a performance, I was in complete awe. It was that moment that I knew what path I was going to choose. Cause it already chose me..."

Chloe just stared at Serena, amazed upon hearing her story.

"Working towards being the Showcase Queen is so much fun!" She continued. "And yeah, it hurt when I lost my last Showcase, but I know it will only make it sweeter when I eventually do get there! With all the missteps and falls, I chose to jump into it. And you can bet I would do it again!"

"You have so much passion!" Chloe said. "It's like sparks fly out when you talk about your dream..."

"Really?" Serena said, embarassed. "I guess it's because I know I'm on the right path. With Pokémon and friends who support me..."

Chloe stopped to think about the whole situation. Her and Serena really were similar! And if Serena could find her goal in life, so could she! But there was one question Chloe still had: if Serena didn't have a dream, nor seemed interested in finding one when she started her Journey, why did she start it in the first place?

As Chloe pondered her question, neither one of the girls noticed that Eevee was curiously watching from a branch behind them before frolicking away.

...

"I wonder if this will even work..." Goh said.

Him, Ash and Regina were leaving some of Serena's Poké-Puffs on nearby tree stumps in order to attract Eevee.

"Hey, Serena's Poké-Puffs are the best ever!" Ash exclaimed. "Once Eevee sniffs them, it'll be here in no-time!"

"But you gotta make sure it's a taste Eevee will enjoy..." Regina commented.

As the three Trainers were chatting, no-one but Pikachu and Scorbunny heard a rustling in the the nearby bushes.

They turned around just in time to see Eevee bouncing off a bush and landing on a stump with a yummy Poké-Puff. Not knowing what to do, the two Pokémon gently said 'hi' to Eevee as it enjoyed its grabbed its treat and hopped away.

The two kept staring longingly at the last spot they saw it.

...

"Any luck?" Chloe asked, the two factions reuniting after the pre-determined amount of time passed.

"No..." Goh lamented. "Not even with the bait... I did catch that pesky Altaria, though!"

"And how does that help?"

"We have a Flying Pokémon now! With an eye in the sky, we can find Eevee faster and with greater ease!"

"That won't help..." Serena said. "Eevee ran away at the first sign of someone watching it. Even if we do find it, it'll just run away again..."

"Hey, if Goh was able to catch that shy Sobble, you can catch that Eevee!" Chloe encouraged.

"She beat me by one second..." Goh whispered to Ash.

"I know, but... I really want to be friends with it... how am I going to let it know that I want to be friends?"

"That's simple! Show interest in what it likes to do!" Regina replied, catching everyone's attention. "I may not be an expert on friendships, however, I have raised an Eevee, so I have an idea on how they work. Even the shyest of Eevee can be compatible with a Trainer, since a lot of its evolutionary methods are much easier with the involvment of people. So, if you show Eevee that you can be a Trainer that's compatible with it, it'll warm up to you!"

"That's all well and good but we only saw that Eevee for, like, two seconds..." Ash said. "How are we gonna know what it likes?!"

"I know!" Serena exclaimed triumphantly. "We're gonna show Eevee our routine!"

...

Serena, Pancham and Fennekin stood on top of the rock where they first saw Eevee, ready to show it how much fun they can have performing.

"Fennekin, Flamethrower!" Serena commanded.

Fennekin breathed a stream of red-orange flames from its mouth. The flames swirled around the air, creating a ring of flames.

The fiery spectacle did in fact catch Eevee's attention. It approached the rock, being close enough to see the performance, but far enough away for it not to be seen.

"Now, Pancham, Ice Punch, go!" Serena commanded.

Pancham's fists became surround with icy blue energy. It then hopped around the swirl of fire before slamming its fists on the ground, actually freezing the flames!

"Now, for the finale!" Serena exclaimed. "Flamethrower and Dark Pulse!"

Fennekin and Pancham jumped on either side of the frozen-flames and fired their attack at the center of the structure. The two attacks collided, and the resulting explosion destroyed the structure into a shower of sparkles.

"Ta da!" Serena exclaimed as she and her Pokémon took a bow.

"Incredible!" Chloe exclaimed, holding an awe-struck Yamper in her arms as her eyes flared up with sparkles.

"Amazing!" Goh commented.

"It sure was!" Ash congratulated.

"Splendid!" Regina finished.

"So... did you like what we did?" Serena asked, turning her attention away from her 'crowd'. "Not bad, right?"

Everybody then turned to look at the place Serena was looking at, only to spot Eevee, who shyly hid behind a rock before slightly peaking.

"See, Eevee? The three of us really like to perform together as a team!" Serena explained. "We compete with other Performers in the Pokémon Showcase and it's a whole lot of fun! Do you think maybe you'd like to perform with us on stage in the Showcase?"

Eevee slowly got out of its hiding spot. It started pacing back and forth for a moment, thinking about this decision when an energy net came out of nowhere and ensnared it. The energy net became a normal one and yanked Eevee towards the responsibles for its capture.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Ash demanded to know.

"Prepare for trouble, it's surely not you..."

"And make it double, we love what we do..."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To ruin your performance at every turn."

"To extend our reach with power to burn!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light..."

"Surrender now or prepare for a coriographed fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Morpeko!"

"Team Rocket?!" Ash exclaimed. "Ugh! Not you guys again..."

"You let Eevee go!" Serena demanded.

"What for?" Jessie teased. "I'm the one who's travelling down the road to stardom with Eevee!"

"What do you mean?!" Chloe snapped.

"How about we show you?" James suggested, pulling out a switch.

"Come on down!" They exclaimed in unison, as James activated the device.

The device quickly called over a Pelipper, who dropped a gumball machine-like device in front of them.

Meowth jumped head-first into the slot in the machine and his coin was inserted inside it. The machine activated, causing Meowth to shutter a bit.

"Our secret... Rocket..." Jessie said, as two purple Poké-Balls dropped from the machine.

"Prize..." James added.

"Master!" The two exclaimed before hurling their Poké-Balls up in the air, unleashing their two newest threats upon twerp-kind.

"The Rabbit Pokémon, Buneary!" Jessie exclaimed unveiling her brand new weapon.

"The Chinchilla Pokémon, Minccino!" James did the same.

The two Rockets stared at their newest prizes with slight disappointment.

"These are our prizes?" Jessie said.

"They don't seem so prizy to me..." James added.

"Speak for yourselves!" Meowth exclaimed, his eyes now big, pink hearts. "I tink I just hit da jackpot!"

"Oh, whatever..." James said. "Minccino! Use Thunderbolt!"

Minccino's fur sparkled with yellow electricity before firing a yellow bolt of electricity from its body towards our heroes.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt too!" Ash commanded.

Pikachu performed the exact same move as Minccino, both electric attacks colliding and canceling each other out with an explosion.

"Alright, Fennekin and Pancham, help Eevee!" Serena exclaimed, her Pokémon ready to attack.

"She's such an irritating Twerpette!" Jessie commented. "Mega Punch!"

The fluff on one of Buneary's ears became surrounded in a black orb of energy surrounded by a white aura. It then rushed towards our heroes.

"Grookey, use Branch Poke!" Goh commanded, releasing one of his two brand new captures.

Grookey's branch became outlined in light turquoise energy before hitting Buneary's ear with it, blocking the attack.

"Hey... isn't that the Pokémon the boss told us to get rid of ehen we first got the Prize Master?" Jessie commented.

"I don't think we have time to think about that. Minccino, use Double Slap!" James commanded.

"Yamper, use Spark!" Chloe commanded.

"And Glaceon, use Ice Beam!" Regina commanded.

Yellow sparks of electricity surrounded Yamper's body. It then became covered in yellow electricity and rushed towards Minccino, colliding with its tail and stopping the attack.

At the same time, Glaceon opened its mouth and a light blue ball formed in front of it. It then fired light blue beams from the ball at Minccino, freezing it.

"No way!" James exclaimed.

"I'll save the day! Buneary, use Bounce!" Jessie commanded.

Buneary sprung high into the air before front-flipping and beginning to descend.

"Pancham, use Stone Edge!" Serena commanded.

Pancham slammed its paws onto the ground, causing pointed light blue rock pillars to appear out of the ground and strike Buneary head-on. Buneary was sent flying backwards before colliding with the net that Team Rocket used to capture Eevee.
This destroyed the net and sent Eevee flying towards our heroes.

"Eevee!" Serena cried out as she ran towards the Evolution Pokémon in order to save it.

"Serena!" Ash cried out.

Jessie growled. "You keep that Twerpette away from Eevee! Shadow Ball, now!"

Buneary put its ears together and formed a black and purple ball of energy with purple static around it. Buneary then shot a barrage of said balls at Serena.

The attacks managed to miss Serena completely, so they didn't stop her from saving Eevee and preventing it from falling.

"Are you okay?" She asked the mass of fluff and nerves which was currently bundled up in her arms.

"Oh no you don't!" Jessie exclaimed as Buneary and a freed Minccino towered over Serena. "Don't waste your fancy footwork, Eevee, you won't get away this time!"

"That's far enough!" Serena gently placed Eevee on the ground and stood in front of it, spreading her arms in a protective way as Fennekin and Pancham reached her side.

"Oh, please!" Jessie scoffed. "Buneary, Shadow Ball!"

Buneary once more fired the Ghost-type attack at Serena. Ash was running towards her to try and stop the attack, but he was not going to make it in time. The attack hit and there was an explosion.

"Serena!" Ash cried out.

As the dust settled, much to Ash's relief, Serena turned out to be completely fine. In fact, Eevee stood in front of her, erecting a turquoise force field in front of it and Serena.

Eevee then jumped into the air and swished its tail, releasing multiple yellow stars with a blue outline and golden sparkles around them at Team Rocket's Pokémon.

"Alright, Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

Once more, Pikachu fired a powerful yellow bolt of electricity from his body towards Team Rocket, this time, the attack hitting them directly and sending them flying away, now that it was the appropriate time.

"Eevee was my path to stardom!" Jessie wined.

"So why dont'cha check out dis fancy footwork?" Meowth asked as he twirled in middair.

"Actually, air travel doesn't use feet..." James corrected, deciding to do a bored pose as they were flying away.

"We're blasting off again!"

"Can't you take a hint?!" Goh exclaimed, annoyed.

"Eevee, thanks so much!" Serena thanked Eevee. She kneeled down to look Eevee in the eye. "Please Eevee, won't you please come along with us?" She extended her hand.

Eevee thought about it for a moment, but eventually accepted Serena's offer with a smile, rubbing its cheek against Serena's hand.

Serena giggled in delight. "Welcome aboard!" She pulled out a Poké-Ball and gently booped it against Eevee, causing it to get sucked into the Poké-Ball. The Poké-Ball shook three times before sparkles erupted from it.

"Ta da! A new chapter in my life, cause I caught an Eevee!" Serena exclaimed, her Pokémon cheering her on.

"Good for you, Serena! I'm really glad you made a new friend..." Ash congratulated.

"Thanks..." Serena raised Eevee's Poké-Ball. "Come back out and say hi!"

Eevee appeared out of the Poké-Ball with a flash of blue. Everybody's Pokémon (who were all already out) approached Eevee to say hello, but the experience was a bit overwhelming for Eevee, who ran towards Pikachu and Scorbunny and hid behind them for comfort.

There's no doubt that things are going to get even livleier with Serena's new friend, Eevee in the group! So now, our heroes are once again pacing ever closer towards their ultimate goals! Even Chloe!

Later that night, Chloe stayed awake long into the night. She passed by Goh and Ash's room and smiled when she saw that Goh's Grookey was holding onto Goh's arm as they slept like a Komala.

But she was awake because she was still thinking about the advice and stories she heard from everyone throughout the day. And after seeing Serena's new bond with Eevee, she finally knew what she was going to do! She looked at Yamper, Pidove and Ponyta, and was prepared to grasp the future in her hands, as Goh used to say. It was time for her to try new things to figure out her dream!

And her first step? The upcoming Showcase!

As the Journey continues!