Serena's POV:

"This won't be like the contests you have won, young lady. This is the next level!!", Palermo told me with a smirk.

"I've beaten Aria before. Nobody said that I could, and now you're saying the same. When I proved the world wrong once, who is to say that I cannot do the same once more?", I asked her confidently and she just shook her head.

"You still have a lot to learn, Serena", she told me and walked to her side.

"ALRIGHT! THIS TIME, PALERMO WILL START THE PERFORMANCE ROUND, AND SERENA WILL HAVE THE FIRST MOVE IN THE BATTLING ROUND!!", the MC announced and Palermo came back to the centre, while I went to my side.

"Chesnaught, Delphox, beautify this arena with your grace!", she yelled twirling around and releasing her two aces. She might have been older than my mom, but age didn't have an impact on her style and grace, which was MOST important for a Performer.

Then, she Littenwalked to the centre giving me a devious smile, and raised her arms up to her shoulders, and at the same time, her Pokemon roared their names.

Chesnaught used five Solar Beams immediately concentrating them into spheres, and punched each one of them with Hammer Arm, and they settled above Palermo's head circling her, and with each motion of her hand, the height and shape of the spheres changed as per her movements.

At that moment, I noticed that it was Delphox who was manipulating the Solar Beams with her Psychic attack.

A second later, Palermo brought her hands down and Delphox did the same causing the spheres to drop down. I presumed that it would melt into the air.

But to my surprise, the liquified form began to trickle over her feet and she stretched her right hand placing left hand on her hip, and the liquid formed into a small and bright wand.

She began to wave her wand around, and with each motion, Delphox sent out flames and Chesnaught smashed down the ground with Hammer Arm sending out noises matching with the motion of Palermo's wand. Suddenly, her Performance began to turn into a musical, a Performance of the Kalosian classic, La Mer, and the audience LOVED it, which hurt my chances even more.

When the song was over, Chesnaught stomped on the floor and vanished into thin air, courtesy of Delphox. Suddenly, he appeared behind Palermo and wrapped her in Vine Whips.

A second later, she came out tearing through the Whips, dressed completely in green, like a goddess of the Forest, and spread her hands, sending fake Beautiflies and Butterfrees into the air, thus ending her Performance.

A split second later, I had contracted temporary deafness due to the rage that had risen amongst the crowd due to her stunning Performance. I had to give it to her, it was the best one she had ever given, and she still had three seconds left, but she didn't do anything. She just waved to the crowd, and when the timer stopped, she turned her attention to me.

"You said you were ready to defeat me, Serena. I hope you won't disappoint me", Palermo told me before walking to her side wrapping her arms around her Delphox and Chesnaught, who were roaring their names to the crowd.

"Someone is gonna get creamed!", Aria yelled from the other side sending me a nasty look. Apparently, she still hadn't forgotten the crushing defeat I had given her all this years ago to gain her title as the Kalos Queen.

"Pangoro, Sylveon and Delphox, let's rock this Contest!!", I yelled and my three loyal Pokemon came out, all guns blazing.

"Time for Dark Queen!!", I told them and they nodded their heads getting into their respective positions.

Pangoro used lots of Dark Pulse, and Delphox concentrated them into a single tornado. Sylveon came next, adding her Moonblast and Dazzling Gleam to the tornado leaving behind a rotating black and white vortex rotating above my head.

I turned around on my right foot, opposite to the direction of the rotation of the vortex, and while rotating, I motioned Delphox to drop the vortex around me which she did as slowly as possible, and with perfect grace required to at least match up to Palermo.

Then, I spread my arms perpendicular to my trunk, and I was sucked into the vortex.

"Right now, Delphox!", I told my starter when I was at the right height and she created a castle in pitch black colour, with small holes filled with the light from the Moonblast, and my clothes were covered in charcoal black, along with gloves which went up to my elbow, and some melted spheres of the Moonblast was formed as a staff.

I sat on my throne moving slowly, looking at the audience maliciously, and waved my staff through the heart of a Dark Pulse-made monster resulting in the formation of a black Milotic and a few black Dragonairs, and lifted my other hand up and Sylveon fired more shots of Moonblast, while Delphox hit all of them with Flamethrower, while Pangoro smashed them all down in front of me, and made a climax with Dark Pulse which resulted in a huge explosion, and I waved my staff again, and everything vanished in a second followed by my Pokemon taking their stances in front of me, and the timer went down to zero exactly.

After that, I turned around, and the horrified expression on Palermo's face gave me my score. Suddenly, there were massive screeches erupting from the crowd, and I saw them going ballistic.

Pride and joy filled me, and I waved to the crowd waving and blowing kisses to them.

"WHO...IN..THIS WORLD WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IN...SUCH...A RECOVERY? SERENA YVONNE HAS SHOWED...WHO IS THE BOSS OF PERFORMING! BEAUTY COMPLIMENTING EVILNESS! A STELLAR PERFORMANCE! Now, Let's get on to the BATTLE ROUND, SHALL WE? Serena would require a minimum 5 percent lead to secure her victory, and victory for the Challengers", the MC roared and I felt the rush of adrenaline flow through my veins. My arch nemesis arrived - BATTLING....the ONE part of Coordinating or Performing where I was a lost cause. HOW I wished I had the brains of Ash just for the next three hundred seconds!

"I'm proud of you, Serena. I give it to you! You have truly outdone me in the Performance Round. But can you keep up with me in the battling round?", Palermo asked me but I didn't have a reply.

"I don't know if I'll win tonight, but I know that I'll give you the best battle you've ever been in!", I told her defiantly and she chuckled.

"As you wish! Chesnaught, extract revenge!!"

"Delphox, let's go!"

"PAN PAN PANGORO!!", Pangoro yelled from the side and Sylveon wrapped her feelers around his left arm rubbing her cheek with his leg.

"Oh no! I totally forgot, Pangoro. Can I..can I change me Pokemon?", I asked the referee and she shook her head signifying that I'll have to continue with Delphox. She however, was not startled and spun her fire stick giving me a wink, and I nodded my head with a smile.

"I'll go on with Delphox", I told the referee and she brought down the flag, and on the scoreboard one bar rose up to each of our faces.

"Match....BEGIN!!"

"Use Hammer Arm!!"

"Send it back with Flamethrower!!"

"Ignore it with Spiky Shield and go on!"

"Stop it in its tracks with Psychic!!"

Delphox made contact with Chesnaught and he was stopped from attacking.

"Fling him into the wall, and use Flamethrower!!"

"Take the first hit, and use Hammer Arm on the floor to launch yourself up in the air. Then, use Wood Hammer!!"

"Stop it in its tracks with Psyshock!!"

The first attack made its impact, and as per Palermo wanted, Chesnaught dodged, but before Delphox could deliver the harsh blow, Chesnaught smashed into her sending her skidding across the harsh ground. Then, I noticed that my bar had reduced to 80 percent, and Palermo's had reduced to just 90 percent.

"Don't give up! Use Mystical Fire!!"

"Bulk Up!! Defend your way through the attack, and use Vine Whip to trap her!"

"Fire Spin!!"

This time, I had the upper hand, and due to the momentum gathered by the Fire Spin, Chesnaught was sent away flying from the sheer velocity of the move.

"Use that energy! Ember, full throttle!!"

"Spiky Shield!!"

The shield only soaked up a small percentage of the damage dealt, and Palermo's bar had suddenly reduced to 60 percent, while mine was at 75 percent. It seemed that I had this one in the bag. Then, I noticed that there were only 40 seconds remaining! This flurry of attacks had swallowed up SO much time!

"Use Leech Seed!!"

"Move out of the way!"

But Delphox just required another SECOND to recover from the extreme use of Ember, and took the Leech Seed. Out of nowhere, my bar went down to 65 percent.

"Now, Solar Beam!!"

"Fire Blast!!"

"Thought so! Charge your Solar Beam with Energy Ball!! Then protect yourself with Spiky Shield and lie on the ground"

Suddenly, Chesnaught began  to grow in a bright shade of green, signalling that he was in the Overgrow phase. The attacks collided and sent up ANOTHER smoke mushroom, and I could hear Ash's groan from my spot.

When the smoke cleared, I saw my Delphox standing weakly, and Chesnaught in the same state. But a second later, Delphox dropped to her knees shaking her head sorrowfully at me, and collapsed. Then, I noticed our bars..... Palermo's was at 50 percent, and mine was at 44 percent.

I had lost...by ONE....percent.

The crowd roared, and I dropped to my knees returning Delphox for her magnificent efforts, and tears began to flow on their own. I had shattered the hopes of myself, my...friends, the one I love, and ALL of the ones who survived that ambush. The silent tears turned into sobs, and I could neither see nor think clearly.

"THEN IT'S SETTLED! A TIE! The referee has had a word with the Defenders, and the tie breaker would involve two battles....ONLY two, where BOTH battles MUST be fought by Ash Ketchum, against Calem Xavier, and Ashlyn Xavier", the MC announced, and I felt two familiar and rough hands cupping my cheeks.

"You were stunning", he whispered but I shook my head.

"I l...l...lost and...and because of me, you have to battle again", I stuttered and he just sighed. He slowly moved his thumbs near eyes and wiped the tears away.

"Look! Palermo was the acting Champion of Kalos when Diantha's grandmother was assassinated. Did you know that?", he asked me and I just stared at him, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"You just went up against a former Champion of Kalos, and nearly defeated her", he told me tucking a few strands of hair behind my ear.

"If I were in your place, I'd be so proud of myself, Sere", he told me bringing his hands back to my cheeks. Then, he looked at me differently and brought my lips to his by tugging me by my collar, the same way how I had kissed him before my Contest. My brain became fuzzy from the contrasting emotions flowing across me and when we separated, I was worse than a drunk girl.

"I wanna ask you something", he told me and I motioned him to go on, and he gave me his small devious smile.

"Will you be my girlfriend?", he asked me and my senses turned numb.

To be continued...