"P-Petilil?"

  Whether it all was a dream or not, I can't answer. If it really was real, than what was that?! It's as if something snapped inside of the two of them, and that was the result.

  Neither Clyde nor Clara had anything to say about what had happened. Petilil and Meowstic seemed to know no more than I did, and the whole thing left me with absolutely nothing to say.

  "Anistar City!" Clara finally broke the long lasting silence once we finally arrived. "The Gym, the Showcase, and the Sundial!" The first thing she did was run around, pointing to every important thing the city had to offer.

  "There's a lot of people," Clyde observed."I think the Showcase is soon."

  "It must be." I need to work on my prop before I can get up on stage! 

  "Olympia in the meantime awaits!" Clara's excitement was greater than mine, even though I had been wanting to speak to Olympia ever since I heard about her. "Onward to the Anistar Gym!"

  "The Showcase is later this afternoon!" A couple walks by, deep in conversation. Judging from what they're talking about I conclude that the Showcase is sooner than I thought.

  "Guess we're goin' there now." Clara's excitement dies, and I can tell that underneath her put on smile she's irritated.

  "Meow." Meowstic finally speaks, although I can't really determine how she feels from her flat expression.

  "Lil!" Petilil, on the other hand, reminds me that we have to hurry with our prop.

  "Let's hurry towards the Pokemon Center!" My Pokemon on my heels I run for the nearest Pokemon Center, leaving the others to catch up.

  "Thank you, Nurse Joy." I bow to show my respect after thanking the kind woman, unlike Clara who ever since her Frogadier was done being inspected stood by the entrance impatiently tapping her foot.

  Once me and Clyde are done Clara bolts out the door without waiting for either of us.

  "The Showcase! Let's hurry!"

  "Clara, it's Millie who's participating."

  "Let's find somewhere to stay first," I offer."The Showcase isn't starting just yet."

  "Fine." Clara's so irritated that I don't think Shell be too nice it I try to talk to her, so I keep silent as we find a hotel and some rooms to stay in.

  "Meow."

  "We have to hurry, Meowstic." I hurry over to my bed and throw my bag down, my heart beating frantically. "Let's get to work!"

  "Thank you for registering, Miss Millie." The woman behind the counter at the venue bows and I thank her as well before going inside the dressing room.

  "Millie!" That voice!

  I turn to see Chloe, bright and energetic."Are you ready to bake some Poke Puffs?"

  Baking..."Mrow..."Meowstic next to me pouts, and I pick her up.

  "I'll do my best!"

  "Me too! I gotta prepare, so see you on stage!"

  She hurries away and I wave after her. Once she's gone I sit and turn to my Pokemon. "It's okay. We've been practicing every chance we had to bake."

  "Mrow."

  "Lil!" While Petilil's enthusiastic, Meowstic just sits there, looking as sour as a child that dropped their Castelia Cone.

  "It'll be okay, Meowstic." After this, I have no doubt that Clara will bring us all to the Gym, and that's where Olympia is. Even if my idea is foolish, I don't think she'll want to waste time with me when she has challengers. That being said, if I had to battle her to get the answers I want....

  I'm not strong enough."Ladies and gentleman, I welcome you all to the Anistar City Showcase! "Monsieur Pierre, host again, cheerfully announces. " Today our beautiful performers will show how wonderful they are at baking delicious Poke Puffs!"

  "So it is Poke Puff Baking." I failed once at it, but I've been training since then. I grew at least a little bit, so this time it's okay to be confident. I'm not the girl I was in Lagoon Town. I've already won one Princess Key, so I can't give up! I tie my apron firmly. I'm never giving up!

  "Millie?"

  "Y-Yes!" Looks like I was too wrapped up in my thoughts... I'll be late if I don't hurry! I grab Petilil and hurry to the platform, Meowstic close behind.

  "Good luck, Millie." I silently thank Chloe for wishing me well, since I don't have time to do it in person.

  "Whoa!" I finally reach the platform and walk over to the empty counter that's full of cooking spices and accessories. As the platform rises I nervously take in my surroundings. A performer on each side of me, not ready to lose. The huge display in front of me that brings back memories of that day....

  "Meow." Meowstic clutches my hand, and Petilil gets closer to me on my arm.

  "Let's do our best," I whisper.

  The lights shine down on all of us, the crowd pumped with excitement. My heart flutters and speeds as the hologram hourglass turns and the timer is set."Begin! "

  At the host's call the other two girls quickly begin, working together with their Pokemon to bake delicious treats. "Meow!" Meowstic starts us off by hopping onto the counter, pouring the necessary ingredients into the bowl.

  "Looks like Millie's Meowstic knows how to cook!"

  "So do I." Petilil picks out the berries and I use my knife to slice them into thirds, then fourths, then fifths...

  "Mrow!" Meowstic gets started on some blue frosting, and I pour the batter onto the cooking pan and put it into the oven. I make a quick glance at the timer. We're doing great! Maybe we can really win!

  "Meow!" Meowstic nods with determination, and I change my attitude.

  "You're right. We will win!"

  "Ding!" Oven mitt over my hand I open the oven and pull out the pan, three perfectly golden brown Poke Puffs placed on it.

  "Decoration time!"

  "Millie and Samantha are making good progress!"

  "Samantha?" Out of curiosity I look over to my right, seeing a blonde-haired girl baking efficiently with her Nidoking.

  "Meow!"

  "Huh?"

  "Time is almost up!"

  "Wah!" I can't believe I let myself get distracted so easily! I get back to decorating neatly, but I don't have time to be a perfectionist.

  "Me-ow!"

  "Lil!"

  Meowstic lifts the frosting bag, perfectly covering each Poke Puff with her blue mixture, along with my purple one and Petilil's green one.

 "Time's up!"

  She carefully sets the pan back down, wiping her forehead afterwards. "Thanks, Meowstic! You too, Petilil!"

  "Lil!"

   I smile at our finished work. The outcome is much better than what little we accomplished in Lagoon Town! In fact, O think these are the best Poke Puffs we've ever baked!

  I keep smiling as our tray is taken to the judges, each Poke Puff given to one of their Pokemon to eat. One of the female judges gives a nod of approval as her Jigglypuff happily consumes the one we baked. "I can tell that both the performer and her Pokemon were in sync when baking this."

  I blush uncontrollably, my heart flooding over with relief. I'm so glad she likes it!

  "The judges have decided!" Monsieur Pierre announces.

  I stand nervously by my Pokemon as the stage dims, and a light moves from the next to the right of me, then over me, then back over again.

  "Hmm...." Did we make it? Did we win? Was our food good enough?

  "The winner... Is....."

  I whimper as I clutch my hand, holding in so firmly that I feel my nails dig into my wrist. "Millie!"

  "Huh?"

  "Congratulations! You will move on to the Freestyle Performance!"

  "Yay!"

  "Mrow!" Meowstic jumps up and hugs me, and Petilil hops up and down with joy.

  "Let's share our performance with everyone!"

I breath in and out, trying to bring back composure to my worrying mind. I'll be performing against Chloe this time!

  "Millie! I made it!" Speaking of Chloe, her comes the always happy girl.

  I nod."Yes. I saw."

  "Whoo! You better hold on tight, since I'm not giving up!"

  "Hm!" I shake her hand professionally. "I won't give up so easily, either."

  Chloe grins, still in her apron."Then I-"

  "Prepare to be amazed!" She pauses with a look at the screen. I follow her gaze, my eyes widening once they land.

  A lady with two Pichu and a Togetic take the stage, and the audience cheers before she even does anything. She must be popular.

  "Let's go!" She has blonde hair and an accent just like Pierre, and I wonder if they'd related. Her two Pichu jump and dance, bumping tails to create beautiful sparks of shared electricity. Her Togetic flies gracefully through the yellow glitter the electricity creates, catching the shimmer on its small body.

  "It's her." I tear my eyes away from the screen, even though I would have liked to see more.

  "That's Bijou?"

  Chloe doesn't seem to like her very much, the look on her face showing her unenthusiastic attitude as she talks about her."Two Princess Keys, going on three."

 "Don't get down about it." My mind scans through my memories until it finds the Dendemille Showcase, where I easily beat Matinee, even though she had two Princess Keys! I wonder how much she has now... There's no doubt that a performer as skilled as she is won her third key.

  "Thanks. I'll get dressed."

  "Good luck!" I call after her, but Chloe seems a bit discouraged.

  "Petilil."

  "I'm not sure, but maybe Bijou really is a fierce opponent."

  "Mrow." Meowstic stretches out her legs, then her tails, uncurling them then bringing them back to their normal state.

  "Let's get dressed."

  "It's Chloe!"

  "Okay!" I eagerly watch the screen as Chloe appears, her Litleo and Spritzee next to her. She's wearing a dazzling magician's outfit, her two Pokemon dresses alike in cute top hats.

  "Litleo!" Her Litleo rolls around the stage, making a ring of heated fire. From behind her back she pulls out two maroon hula hoops, and her Litleo jumps through them with Flame Charge.

  "Wow..."

  Her Spritzee floats through them, her body encased by pink shimmering glitter as Chloe and Litleo do their fast paced dance. "Now!"

  Chloe spins, and Litleo, after balancing skillfully on its paw, flips and uses Flamethrower, and Spritzee does the same and uses Moonblast. The moves collide and burst into a gleaming pink and orange explosion. Chloe throws the hoops over her body, she and her Pokemon bowing when they land on the floor surrounding her feet.

  "Amazing!" But I don't have time to marvel over someone else's performance!

  "We'll get our answers after this Showcase, whether we have a second Princess Key with us or not," I promise my Pokemon. "But for now, let's show everyone our fierce ambition!"

  "Meow!" "Lil!" My Pokemon are full of spirit, and I'm going to do my best to bring their potential to the stage for everyone to see!

  "Millie?"

  "Coming!" As we walk out of the room to step onto the platform, I put on my gloves. Chloe and I exchange nods as she walks past me, sweat running down the side of her face from her energetic performance.

   "Let's do it." Once again, it's our turn to take over the stage. The spotlight is placed perfectly over my head, and Petilil hops onto it.

 I hold my arm out towards Meowstic, who's taken her position at my left."Meowstic!"

  "Mrow!" Meowstic nods before flipping into the air, landing on the far end of the stage without breaking a sweat.

  I turn my attention back to the audience as she flips around the stage. "Okay!" Petilil positioned on my head I hop as the music comes on, filling my ears. I wave to everyone as I hop and twirl, dancing cutely while Petilil hops up and down, spinning as she lands back on my head.

  My hands to my chest, I spin, my feet getting into the music's rhythm without much guidance. Petilil does a backflip, and I hold out my arms behind me as well as my right leg, standing as elegant as a ballet dancer as she lands on my foot. Carefully and swiftly I lift my foot a bit, enough for her to jump over to Meowstic, who's floating in the air.

  Meowstic's Charge Beam lands on cue, creating shimmering neon yellow dust as she lands beside me. I hurry to the other side of the stage, opposite to Petilil who's in the air. She unleashes Energy Ball after Energy Ball, and with no time at all I pull out my star-shaped wand and hit every one, gracefully twirling like a ballerina as emerald glitter appears from each hit.

  Meowstic slowly lifts me up, and me and Petilil get closer, spinning in mid air when we meet. Then I spin back around to hit the oncoming barrage of Energy Balls, the entire stage illuminated by glitter. Petilil lands, and after being released from Psychic, I hold onto the bottom of my dress as I land perfectly like a Purrloin onto my feet.

  "We're finished!" I strike a pose, the crowd cheering and whistling as the music ends strong. I pant when we're done, but I'm sure we got through to everyone in the entire audience.

                       Chapter 15.... End! ;)