The next morning I excused myself to go practice a little while. After some practice, I decided that I would enter Roisel in the Appeal's round and then give Shinx a chance at the battle rounds since I still hadn't come up with a good appeal round routine for him and we didn't have the time to perfect one anyways.

After visiting Nurse Joy and getting Roisel and Shinx all healed up I followed Theresa and her family to the festival. Her Dad (who owned a special herb store in town) was running a booth during the festival but he left it closed so that he could watch his daughter's performance. Theresa and I waved our goodbyes to her family and then went to the back of the stage where the other six contestants were already lined up.

There were no backstage cameras for a contest this small, so to watch the other performers I had to sneak around the side of the stage and watch from the shadows. Theresa's appeal round was so cute I could hardly keep from squealing. Her Piplup used a combination of Bubble to fill the stage with little bubbles and then Bide to make its body glow beautifully. Finally, it waddled around the stage using Peck to pop the bubbles that it could reach. I nearly died of cuteness overload when one of the bubbles was just barely out of Piplup's reach and it had to jump three times before finally popping it with a triumphant peep.

Since I was the last to sign up I gave my performance last as well. I was surprised when I got to the stage and didn't feel nervous in the slightest when I saw the small crowd of happy townsfolk. Bree and her parents waved encouragingly to me at the front of the audience and I couldn't help but wave back before I released Roisel using the same crystal flower seal as my first contest. Roisel performed her appeal round performance perfectly. She even threw in an extra twist in her backflip as she flipped into my extended hands and I lifted her up high at the end of the routine. Everyone applauded and I looked down at the judges in interest.

Nurse Joy was there of course, but the other two judges I didn't recognize. One of them was an elderly man in a white suit who seemed to be overflowing with happiness after watching the performances. The other was an elegant woman who appeared in her mid-forties with beautiful midnight blue hair styled in a bob much like Vanessa's. I curtsied and left the stage since the judges hadn't been announcing their scores for the other contestants.

Theresa practically jumped into my arms when the judges announced that both of us had made it into the top four. I wrapped my arms around her small frame and spun her around, laughing excitedly along with her before she left to face her first opponent. To my surprise, when Theresa faced off against the young boy who had sent out a Turtwig, she chose a pokemon that I had researched before but had never seen in person. It was an adorable fighting type called Riolu and I immediately fell in love with its cute yet fierce persona. Her battle lasted the full five minutes and I was impressed with the grace and charm that her Riolu battled with.

My first battle was against an old woman affectionately known as Grandma Millie. She was battling with a cute little Minun and I was excited to have it battle against my Shinx. An electric battle sounded exciting to watch and I hoped I would be able to give Shinx the proper commands to unlock his potential.

The battle began and Grandma Millie bowed slightly towards me, which I immediately returned with a lower bow in respect. She chuckled happily before nodding at her little pokemon.

"Alright, Dearie, let's start with Trump Card," Grandma Millie said in a relaxed tone. 

Her Minun hopped to the left then the right cutely and then to my surprise playing cards suddenly materialized behind its body and began flying through the air towards Shinx. I had never seen a move like this before, but I knew that Shinx didn't have fantastic defense so I needed to do something to avoid taking damage at all costs.

"Shinx, use Spark and jump to the left!" I called out, hoping this would work.

The cards flying toward Shinx were more concentrated in the center so as crackling yellow electricity surrounded Shinx's small body and he leaped to the left I couldn't help but cheer in excitement. As he dove to avoid the brunt of the attack, the electricity crackling around him jumped off, zapping the stray cards that were coming towards him and causing them to explode in small puffs of smoke before he landed and began sprinting straight towards Minun.

"Very well, Dearie. Give the nice Shinx a little Nuzzle," Grandma Millie said with a gentle smile.

Just as Shinx was about to crash into the smaller pokemon, Minun jumped to the side. After avoiding Shinx's electrified tackle I was surprised when it jumped TOWARDS him and surprisingly landed on Shinx's back, nuzzling its cheek against the back of his head. Electricity sparked around Minun and transferred into Shinx and an idea came to me.

"Use Charge and jump into the air!" I yelled, wondering if this would work.

As Minun's weak electricity transferred into my little Shinx, he boosted his own electric power and leaped into the air. I gasped as small bolts of electricity ricocheted away from Shinx's body, snapping in the air and making him look almost like a disco ball. I gasped when I realized that Shinx's own electricity seemed to be pulling Minun's into his own body. It looked like he was almost using MInun's electricity like a battery to turn his usual Charge into a Super Charge.

"Wow! How beautiful!" The announcer's comment pulled me out of my brief stupor from seeing the amazing result of my command and I felt a rush of excitement go through me.

This. This is what I want to do. Even if it's just a little bit, I want me and my pokemon to make the world a more beautiful place.

Shinx dropped down to the ground and my excitement lessened when I saw one of his knees buckle, as if he was in pain somehow. Minun jumped away from him and I frowned when I saw that Shinx was still sparking with electricity and hadn't made a move yet, even though he was partially kneeling.

"Oh no! It looks like that Nuzzle attack has paralyzed Serena's Shinx. How will she manage to keep the momentum from that beautiful attack just now?" the announcer asked. Blinking at that comment, I looked over to where the scores of Grandma Millie and I were being projected and my eyes widened when I saw that nearly half of Grandma Millie's points had disappeared, while I still had ¾'s of mine left.

What can we do if Shinx can't move though? I wondered, beginning to feel panic set in as I scrambled to try and come up with some kind of a plan or strategy.

"Trump Card once more, Dearie," Grandma Millie said with her characteristic gentle smile. Once again the playing card materialized behind Minun, but this time when they shot towards Shinx it looked like they were moving even faster than the first time.

Shinx still hadn't moved from his half-kneeling position, but I saw him strain his neck and for a millisecond my eyes connected with his large, determined yellow ones. My panic disappeared and I grabbed onto my last hope.

"Alright, Shinx. Use Round!"

Even though Shinx couldn't move his body, I could see his lips quirk into a grin before he faced the oncoming attack and opened his mouth. A strange melody that sounded half like a purr and half like a hum came from Shinx's small body and a visible purple sound wave began moving away from Shinx's body. Musical notes began to appear as well, floating through the air towards the Trump Card attack. I pressed my lips together to keep myself from cheering obnoxiously as the sound wave pushed the majority of the trump cards to the side, sending them flying off course. The musical notes that followed it collided with the remaining cards and both burst apart in miniature explosions of purple and white.

"Oh my, how pretty," I heard Grandma Millie comment in surprise and I couldn't keep my excitement to myself.

"Well done, Shinx! That was amazing!!" I cried out excitedly, amazed at how well that had worked.

"Shinx!" I gasped as Shinx cried out in excitement and pushed himself up, flipping in the air and landing back on the stage with an eager grin. His body was still sparking, which I assumed meant he was still paralyzed, but it looked like he was ready to try and fight through it.

"Hmmmm. Let's try a Swift, Dearie," Grandma Millie said with a chuckle, seeming to be amused by Shinx and my reactions. Her Minun jumped in the air and shining stars materialized around her before shooting towards Shinx. I flinched at the speed of the attack and licked my lips nervously.

"Okay Shinx, use Round again, but start another Charge immediately after, okay?" Shinx began sing-purring again, releasing the soundwave and notes from just before. Then electricity immediately began to build up along his fur, causing his short black and blue fur to stand on end and make him look even fluffier than usual.

At first, it looked like everything was going right. The sound wave pushed the Swift attack to the side like the Trump Card and it seemed like Shinx would have a clear shot to Minun... but instead of flying off course, the stars from the Swift attack corrected themselves and began careening towards Shinx from both sides. I gasped in shock as the attack slammed into Shinx from both sides, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh no, Shinx!" I cried out in shock. 

After a moment the referee declared Shinx unable to battle. I dashed towards my fallen hero and scooped him into my arms, not even caring as some stray electricity crackled and shocked me. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Grandma Millie had barely had an 1/8th of her points left, but I put that out of my mind, for now, focusing completely on my unconscious pokemon.

"Shinx? Shinx, are you okay?" I whispered, bouncing his little body in my arms, desperately waiting for his eyes to open. 

After a moment, and with a small whimper, Shinx blinked open his eyes and mewled up at me in obvious disappointment. I breathed out a sigh of relief and hugged him close to me.

"You were fantastic, Shinx. I'll make sure to practice really hard so you can learn some new moves and we'll have more options in the future, okay?"

"Shinx!" he purred quietly, but with obvious determination. A small hand laid on my shoulder and I looked up in surprise to see Grandma Millie looking down at me kindly.

"That was a wonderful battle, young lady. If your Shinx had a bit more practice and stamina, I'm sure you would have won," she said with an encouraging smile as she offered me one of her wrinkled hands. I slipped mine into it, smiling at the kind woman, and stood up, still keeping Shinx tucked against my chest.

"Thank you for the opportunity. Your Minun was really amazing," I replied with a smile.

"Mi!" Dearie the Minun said with a happy grin, coming over and leaning against one of Grandma Millie's legs affectionately. I moved off of the stage and walked over to Bree and her parents who all gave me hugs as if I were a part of the family.

"I'm so sorry you lost in the end, Serena. But that move where Shinx had Minun on his back and he was shining and sparking with electricity was one of the prettiest things I've ever seen!" Bree said excitedly as we waited for Grandma Millie and Theresa to get ready for their final contest battle.

"It's alright. I only caught Shinx a few days ago, so I think he did absolutely amazing!" I said, looking down at Shinx still in my arms and he smiled up at me gratefully.

The battle between Theresa's Riolu and Grandma Millie's Minun was gorgeous. I gasped in shock when Minun went in for another Nuzzle attack but Riolu used Feint attack so quick it looked like there were two Riolu on the stage for a split second before he slammed his paw into Minun's back, smashing her away from him. Riolu didn't have many flashy moves, but I thought it was amazing how Theresa was able to keep him dodging Minun's attacks, making Grandma Millie lose points since nothing was connecting. In the end, Theresa was the winner and I cheered loudly along with Bree and her parents as she was handed the Jezin Festival Contest Ribbon.

Even though I wanted to congratulate her right away, I hung back when her family ran up, surrounding her in hugs as she held up the contest ribbon proudly. Seeing how supportive her parents were made me think of my own mom and wonder if she would ever forgive me for choosing to leave rhyhorn racing.

"Excuse me, your name was Serena, correct?"

"Hmm? That's right," I answered, turning around and looking down into the face of the judge with the blue hair. She was looking at me intently and I felt my spine straighten under her silent scrutiny as she looked between me and Shinx who was still cuddled in my arms.

"You haven't had your Shinx for very long have you?" the woman asked, procuring a berry from the pocket of her loose shirt and handing it to Shinx. He ate it without question and I blinked when the small crackles of electricity that had been going up and down his body suddenly stopped.

"Oh, thank you! And you're right, I only recently caught Shinx," I replied, rubbing his ear affectionately as he stretched out his front paws.

"Well, I've got to say. You two make an impressive team even though you haven't had much time to train," the woman said with a broad smile, looking up at me. She seemed to be around 5'3", which was several inches shorter than me, but her quiet confidence seemed to make her taller.

"Really? Thank you very much!" I said, feeling a rush of excitement go through me as I bowed in gratitude to her.

"My name is Johanna, by the way. I was once a Top Coordinator and I own a Coordinator training school over in my hometown of Twinleaf Town," she explained, holding out a hand to me. Amazement washed through me as I looked at this elegant woman and realized I had just been complimented by a Top Coordinator.

"It... it's very nice to meet you, Ms. Johanna!" I said, stuttering slightly from my frazzled nerves now that I knew I was speaking to someone who had actually achieved the Top Coordinator ranking. She shook my hand briefly before placing her hand on her hips and looking at me with an expression filled with nostalgia.

"Something about you reminds me of my daughter," Johanna remarked with a happy smile. "She is working towards becoming a global Top Coordinator, but ever since she started dating that protege pokemon trainer I hardly ever see her." Johanna sighed deeply, folding her arms and frowning slightly.

"Ah.. do you... dislike her boyfriend?" I asked hesitantly, knowing that this was none of my business but not knowing what else to say. Johanna blinked in surprise up at me and then laughed, waving her hand in front of her face dismissively.

"Dislike? Nothing of the sort! Paul can be a tough one to get along with, but he loves my daughter and treats her like an equal. That's all a mother could ever ask for in a future son-in-law, after all," Johanna said with a wide grin.

"Oh, that's good. I'm glad she found someone special to her like that," I said quietly. 

As always, whenever the topic of love or relationships came up, Ash's sweet face from childhood popped into my head, but to my surprise, two other faces appeared in my mind's eye next to Ash. I felt heat rush into my cheeks as I quickly shook my head, trying to banish the images that had just appeared.

"I just wish they would take a break from all of their training and traveling and come visit once in a while," Johanna sighed wistfully, pulling me out of my embarrassing thoughts. 

I looked down at the shorter woman consideringly as I saw that brief look of loneliness on her face as she talked about her daughter. It seemed unlikely, but I wondered if my own mother would make that face because I wasn't around anymore.

"Hey Serena! Good jo.... WOOOOOAAAHHHH!" 

I jumped in shock from the exclamation of amazement behind me. I turned to see Theresa, who had stopped mid-step, staring with stars in her eyes up at Johanna.

"You're actually TALKING to Miss Johanna?!?! She's one of Sinnoh's most famous Top Coordinators! And her daughter was the first one to become a Top Coordinator in all of the regions that host contests!!" Theresa squealed excitedly, suddenly dashing forward and standing in front of Johanna, her entire body trembling with pent-up excitement. "I'm a HUGE fan of you and Dawn, Miss Johanna! It's always been my dream to travel to Twinleaf Town and take one of your coordinator classes!"

Johanna laughed delightedly at Theresa's energetic declaration and I saw Bree facepalm from behind her sister with a sigh. She caught me looking at her and gave me an amused smirk, making me smile. I tipped my head towards Theresa then shook my head and giggled quietly and Bree chuckled under her breath as well.

"You are welcome to come by anytime, young lady. Congratulations on your win today. You have a gift for avoiding your opponents' attacks and then attacking in their blind spot," Johanna commented with a calming smile, patting Theresa on her head. 

Theresa bounced up and down on her tiptoes, seeming to be trying her very best to hold in her excitement at having been praised by one of her heroes.

"Well, it was nice to meet you all. I think I'm going to check out the booths at the festival and then head home. I look forward to seeing both of you at the Grand Festival, Serena and Theresa. I can't wait to see how much you will improve by then," Johanna said with a happy grin.

I blinked in shock as she waved, leaving me and Theresa's family behind as she moved towards the booths. As she disappeared into the crowds, I felt a strange anticipation building inside of me.

She thinks I can make it to the Grand Festival... I thought to myself in disbelief. The idea seemed to plant itself into both my mind and my heart and as I looked down at Shinx in my arms and my Pokeballs that held my other two pokemon, a competitive excitement began to grow inside of me.

"I want to go," I whispered to the air. "I want to make it to the Grand Festival," I whispered aloud, feeling the seed of desire that Johanna had sown begin to take root in my heart.

"You're going to have to train a lot to make it to a Grand Festival."

A surprised squeak escaped me as I turned swiftly to find Bree standing just behind my left shoulder. She looked at me with a confident smile and I blinked at her determined green eyes.

"You seem really good at making your pokemon shine and appear beautiful even in the worst of situations, but you don't seem to know anything about battling strategy," Bree observed bluntly. I flinched, feeling her words pierce my heart with their brutal honesty and I bowed my head slightly.

"You're right. I'm completely new to being a trainer and I have no real experience in pokemon battles," I mumbled sadly. 

A firm hand clapped against my shoulder, startling me into looking back up at Bree, who was smiling broadly.

"What do you say about traveling with me then?"

A/N This chapter really didn't go the way I had expected. I actually thought that Serena and Shinx would beat Minun and go on to battle Theresa, but it just seemed more realistic this way. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the little cameo that Johanna had ;) Thanks for reading as always!