"Here we go, you guys!" My voice comes out like a frantic shriek, and I cough a bit and hope that with my next sentence I'll sound less like a Misdreavus and more like a normal person. "The Master Class is closer than ever!"

"Lil..." Lilligant nods with determination, and Meowstic jogs in place to contain her fighting spirit.

We're on our way to Kiloude City, and boarding the train was our main objective after reaching Lumiose City.

Apparently in that time Team Flare was dome and over with, and their secret base had been found in one of the city's cafés.

"Good luck!" Lennie's words of encouragement calm me down just a bit, but my nerves go back to full blast when the thought of seeing my mother sneaks its way into my head.

"You don't have to worry about that, Millie," Lennie reassures me, her hand tightly gripping my arm."So many people believe you can do it, and all you need now to complete this is you believing in yourself too!"

"Okay!" I'm glad Lennie's here, my Pokemon too, but I'd better stop wrapping my head around that. There have been so many times I've relied solely on my friends, and I was always thinking about how relieved I was to have them around, but I can only carry the spirit they gave me. "I'll do my best!"

"Now arriving in Kiloude City." The train screeches to a halt, and I'm jerked back in my seat as we reach our stop.

"I've got it." Lennie and Braixen handle the bags, while me, Meowstic, and Lilligant hurry off the train, pushing our way through the crowd of people, most of whom probably arrived for this special Showcase.

We scurry in the direction of the hotel designed for participating performers that have earned their third Princess Key. I slow down and eventually come to a stop as soon as we reach the doors to the hotel, heavily panting after having run so much and so fast.

"We'll have to register, so Meowstic, you and Lennie will take our bags in while Lilligant and I take care of that," I instruct my Pokemon after catching my breath.

"Meow!" Meowstic nods and holds a paw to her head at the order, and Lilligant and I are off.

Having left our bags with Lennie, I relied on Lilligant to have our Key Ring. "Lilligant!" Lilligant lifts her flower crown, revealing three colorful keys, mainly gold, all firmly attached to a wide silver ring.

"Great!" We head towards the largest building that's centered towards the edge of the town. On its roof is a large cursive-like P, the symbol for Pokemon Performing.

"This is it." I gulp at the tremendous sight. This is more than a regular Showcase. This isn't a place for rookies. We're in the big leagues now.

"Lilligant, Lil," Lilligant reaches for my hand, and we walk in together.

My uncertainty fades and I start to relax as I notice all the other performers who appear just as nervous. Even as they're so far up the chain they look ready to run and hide.

I shake my head and bring my attention to the registration desk, and walk towards it to stand behind a blue haired girl entering in front of me.

"You're all set to go on first, Miss Matinee," the woman says with a cheerful tone.

"Matinee?" The name escapes my mouth, and at the sound of my voice she turns around, slightly taller than me now but with a less cocky demeanor.

"You're here." She doesn't sound that surprised, as if she was waiting for me to arrive.

"You're here, too." I'm not surprised either. From the first moment I saw her on stage, when she surpassed me at nearly ever turn, I always had high expectations of her. Even where I stand now, having changed and improved for the better, those expectations haven't lowered.

"Well." Matinee steps to the side, inviting me to step forward and register.

"Thank you." I walk forward and wait for Lilligant to place our Key Ring onto the desk.

"My name is-"

"Millie." The woman behind the counter finishes my sentence for me, and her eyes are wide. "I've, I've been waiting for you to come." She stutters as if she's sitting before Aria. Have I become that popular?

"I'm glad you know me." Even so, I'm happy all the same.

"You'll be on first!" She exclaims, excitedly writing my name down, her fingers shaking as she brings pencil to paper.

"Alongside me," Matinee beside me points out, her expression as unreadable as ever.

"Yes, I guess so." We'll be facing each other again. Last time we were on the same stage it was me who triumphed, but I'm sure she won't go down easily this time.

"Don't go easy on me." Neither smiling nor frowning those are the words she leaves on, Dragonair sliding after her.

"Lilligant." Lilligant watches them as they leave, and worry begins to creep up on me.

"Here you are." The lady behind the counter's voice briefly takes my mind off my strongest rival, and she hands me back my Key Ring. Before I can ask why she's giving it back she quickly explains."You'll need it onstage."

"Oh. All right. Thank you." I bow just as she quickly gets up from her seat with a creak to bow as well, and we almost bump heads.

"You'll have to get dressed and come back here so you can go onstage. Make sure to bring one Pokemon with you,"the woman adds, bending over to wave to Lilligant.

"Lil!" Lilligant returns the gesture, causing the woman to squeal and fall back in her chair.

"See you later, then." I quickly wave before trotting out, Lilligant at my heels.

"Ladies and Gentleman, prepare yourselves for a truly magnificent Showcase. I welcome all of you to the delightful Kiloude City Master Class!"

I can hear the accented yet cheery voice of Monsieur Pierre above me, and my heart thuds three times faster. It's dark in this tiny chamber, and all I can do is hear. The audience is roaring up above as Pierre begins the introduction onstage.

"Let's bring up all those lovely performers now!" His snap resounds and echoes before I hear each chamber elevate, and I can then the darkness gives way to the light from the spotlights overhead filtering in.

Then a sudden noise goes off, and the lights flash yellow then red then blue and green. "Lil..."

"Fireworks..."

"Now, I want all of you perf.ormers to hear this," Pierre begins after the fireworks stop. "Take your three Princess Keys in hand, and use them to open the locks, the locks to your future."

"Let's get to it, then." I notice the golden keyholes in front of me, and without another moment's notice I take my first key, the one that took me two Showcases to win, and place it firmly into the first keyhole. I turn it, and it makes a soft drop sound, almost resembling a raindrop landing on a puddle.

The memories slowly flow into me, like when I messed up making Pokepuffs, to when Chloe taught me and I won the Anistar City Showcase. My second key, in the city where I had to fight on my own, the city where I had to grow and develop my own wings to fly.

My third and final key, where I showed everyone my evolution. Yes, that moment on the Couriway City Showcase stage, where I flew and bloomed just like a fire flower.

"Ding!" A high pitched ding rings out, and all three keyholes glow with a magnificent light. Perfectly aligned they slowly connect and split open, revealing a door to walk through.

Light showers me and the other performers as we step out on by one with our close partners. On my left side above Lilligant's head I see Matinee standing calmly with her Dragonair sitting beside her, its tail neatly wrapped around itself.

To my left is a girl with a Psyduck, and I soon notice a pattern that all the performers share. So everyone else decided on one Pokemon to make their Master Class debut with, my mind points out.

I, on the other hand, brought both of my Pokemon with me.

"Mrow!"

"Lil!" And I don't regret a thing.

"Now that all our beautiful performers have appeared, it's time to meet Aria, our Kalos Queen!"

"Aria!" The crowd loses it once Aria takes her fist step down a long set of stairs, waving at everyone in the audience. She's wearing a long, slim red dress that compliments her curves as she moves. Her Delphox is wearing similar attire, but instead of a dress it's more like a curtain draped over her body.

"Hello, everyone!" Her voice is so mature! It's obvious that she's definitely aged since I saw her in Lagoon Town, even if it wasn't that long ago.

Aria bows, and I notice that placed firmly on her dark pink head is a silver tiara.

"As you all know, I hope to give my crown to one performer at the end of this Showcase." She doesn't at all seem sad to be giving up the title she's held so dearly all these years. In fact, it's almost as if she seems overjoyed at the thought of crowning another performer as Kalos Queen.

We've never met, and yet I get a strange vibe from her as if we had. Could that possibly mean that we're alike in some way? I shake my head at the thought, but stop midway to wonder if I've really become anything like Aria.

"Each stage will hold three performers!" I force my thoughts away and focus on what's ahead of me. The Master Class. Our Performance. The fight for Kalos Queen. I take a deep breath. The fight for our future.

"These lovely performers will show off individually with their Pokemon one by one, and then they will try to capture our audience's hearts by performing all at once!" The daring words escape the announcer's mouth, and I can feel the tension on the stage rising. It's almost the complete opposite of the excitement everyone in the audience is giving off, and yet at the same time intertwined.

This will decide it all for sure. "Lilligant!" All of a sudden Lilligant yanks my hand, her strength almost enough to pull my entire body over to her.

A fierce intensity burns within her usually delicate orange gaze, and that same determination is mirrored in Meowstic's. We've trained so hard for this, not just by performing but by living our daily lives. That's what everyone here will be seeing. Everything we've done in our journeys until now, brought to the stage in a single swift moment!

"Stay tuned as we take a break to get our performers ready!"

"Beautiful, glorious, and magnificent! The Master Class performances will begin!"

"Matinee." I can make out the seriousness in my rival's face, the sound of her fists clenching nervously almost loud enough to overlap every bit of noise around us.

The lights dim as Monsieur Pierre steps away to let the first performer of the trio take charge. That's me!

At first I had no clue of what to do, what strategies to pull off as I tried to articulate everything I'd practice in my mind. I had stood there so unsure of how I could possibly improvise a performance and call it something to be amazed by, but when the spotlight hit me and Lilligant at that exact moment, I knew what I had to do!

"Lilligant!" A single foot lifts my entire body off the stage floor, and for a moment it's like I'm flying above my Pokemon, my hand extended to reach and capture the audience in one fell swoop.

"Lil!"

That moment fades as gravity pulls me back down, and I nimbly land beside my best friend. Lilligant takes my hand, and I lift her onto my back in a heartbeat.

Facing the ceiling above us Lilligant sets loose an enlarged Energy Ball, it's emerald glow casting a light so huge and fantastic it's as if it'll completely overshadow the spotlight!

The audience cheers, and for a split second I look up and see the faces that support me. The faces that will support my future.

With the Energy Ball suspended in the air, Lilligant rolls off my back. I take her leaf in my hand and throw them up just as the Energy Ball falls over and collapses, shimmering green dust flooding the floor around our feet.

"Next up is Matinee!" Matinee is not one to take lightly.

On her cue, Matinee snaps her fingers, her hand placed square on her side and her body supported by her other. Dragonair chirps and spins into the air, its body spiraling so fast she almost looks like a blue drill.

As she spins dark blue rings jet out from her body, getting bigger and bigger until they materialize and take the form of a flower in the center of the stage.

Dragonair lands right in front of it, taking Matinee's nod of approval as a cue to pass the blue flower to her. Matinee simply stands composed as the flower is hurled at her. The flower bursts into blue streaks stretching through the air, alike sparkles bringing out Matinee's grace as she flips her hair over her shoulder.

"She's as amazing as always," I whisper, my eyes bound to be shining at the sight of another beautiful performance. But I've reached those ranks, too!

"Finally, we have Candace!"

The spotlight switches over to the last performer of the group, and a blonde-haired girl takes over the stage with her Jolteon.

"Jolteon!" Her voice quivers a bit as she turns to her partner.

"Jolteon!" Jolteon cries its name, its prickly fur shooting out jolts of electricity in alarm.

They hit Candace, and she slips on her feet and falls over. The spotlight directly on her, the poor girl clenches her eyes shut as everyone watches her, their excitement making a quick pass into shock.

"Lil!" Lilligant cheers her on, anyway, and I follow suit and do the same.

"You can do it, Candace!"

"Huh?"

Her frantic teary gaze travels across the stage to meet mine, her eyes widening as I give her a firm nod. She nods back, wiping her eyes as she quickly pulls herself to her feet. She taps her foot on the floor, her yellow mary-janes making a satisfying click sound.

"Jolteon!" She calls her partner's name again, this time her voice with a bit more edge.

"Jolt!" Jolteon nods, skidding to the side. Both performer and Pokemon tap the floor with a quick foot, electricity crackling through the air as golden bolts make their way to the air.

Candace spins, her foot making a final tap, bringing all the electricity down with a loud clap. Sparkles as yellow and bright as the streetlights in Saffron City take their place, fading as the spotlight goes dark again.

Just before they go off, Candace shoots me a grateful glance, and I happily smile back. It felt amazing to encourage someone. I hope I can do it more in this Showcase, whether I end up becoming Kalos Queen or not.

"It's time for the simultaneous appeal!" Monsieur Pierre announces, his staff pointing to the lights above our heads. "Go!"

Every light from the ceiling flicks on, lighting up all three parts of the stage. "Jolteon!" Candace catches me by surprise by being the first performer to issue a command to her Pokemon, her Jolteon using the same move from before.

"Hm." Matinee turns to her Dragonair, pointing ahead as she begins a command of her own. "Dragon Dance!"

Dragonair leaps into the air again, her body staying midair as she twists herself, shaking away beautiful crimson scales from her body.

"Lil!" We have to get moving, too!

The other two performers have taken to moving across the stage, sending pretty moves this way and that as if trying to overshadow the other. Well, I'm not going to.

"Lilligant!" Leaves in hand we waltz across the stage. At first everything appears slow and almost boring, all until I switch things up a bit!

"Energy Ball Barrage!"

"Lil, lil, lil!" Lilligant spins at triple speed, an Energy Ball being flung in every direction.

We hold onto each other as we jump onto the Energy Balls creating a path across the stage, hopping from each one as they make sparkles below our feet.

"Millie!" Can't get distracted now by the audience!

"Millie."

"Huh?" With a final leap over the last Energy Ball I hear the voice again, this time sounding much closer. My gaze falls on my partner, whose eyes are closed in a smile. "Lilligant?"

We land, and she pulls me into a sideways hug. We both smile and wave at the audience as the other two performers finish up.

  "It's time to vote, everyone!" Monsieur Pierre holds up his example Glowcaster, tilting it towards the hologrammed keyholes that appear above all three of us performers.

  Red, blue, and green lights flood the stage, and only then do I notice just how much people are surroudnig us. There are people as far as the eye can see attending this Showcase! And just then do I notice they there's no Theme Performance.

  The Kalos Queen should be above that, after all. I watch with bated breath as the final glowing orbs float to to the stage, some into my key and the others into Candace's and Matinee's.

  "We've got the results! The lovely performer passing onto the next round is....."

A drumroll starts in the background, adding to the suspense in a somewhat giddy way. "Millie!"

  "Lil!" Lilligant bursts out with sheer happiness, pulling me into another hug.

  "Yay! We did it!" One last stage to go, and then.... The path to the future will really be underway!

         Chapter 24... End! :)