I'm greeted by breezy winds as I take my first step into the town of windmills. "Petilil. Espurr." I look down at my Pokemon, my heart rushing with excitement.

"We finally made it!" Finally, a town with no huge ports or that watery smell that comes with a town surrounded by it. Dendemille Town is dry, but windy, and I start to get slight chills.

  "You sure were quick." Clyde and his sister arrive behind me, out of breath from trying to catch up with me.

  "You sure are happy to be here," Clara says.

  "Yep!" A new town and a new start!

  "Espurr...." Espurr snuggles up to my leg, and I notice the look of worry on her face.

  "What's wrong....?" I begin, and I trail off as I watch what she's looking at. A huge building surrounded with people on the outside. I've seen it in Lagoon Town and Coumarine. "The next Showcase," I gasp.

  Clara follows my gaze, nodding at her observation. "You'll knock 'em dead, Millie!"

  "You should hurry and register!" Clyde suggests.

  "R-right!" It's about that time again! I hurry with my Pokemon to the Showcase venue for registration, my heart floating around in my chest. I have plenty of rivals, and I have Matinee to compete with as well. It won't be easy, but I have to come out on top this time!

  In the dressing room, I nervously make my way to a secluded spot in the back, slipping on the graduation outfit. This time, the Theme Performance is a Pokemon Quiz! Thank goodness I've been studying with Clara on my journey.

  "You're still trying?" No matter how hard I've tried to avoid her, Matinee still finds me.

  I try to stand my ground this time."Yes. I'm a Pokemon Performer, of course. "

  "Look." Matinee brushes back her perfect hair, a beautiful yet intimidating gesture."It's not too late to back out if you know you can't win."

  "Petilil!" Petilil hops up and down in a huff.

  "We won't quit until it's all over." I leave Matinee and her Dratini behind. I can't let her try to discourage me again. Enough is enough, and I WILL win this time!

  "Our first group of performers are up!" I'm up with two other girls and their Pokemon. The obstacle for all of us is to have our Pokemon gather berries in a basket and bring it over to the finish line.

  "You can do it, Petilil!"

  "Lil!"

  "Question One!" Monsieur Pierre uses his staff to point to the screen."Which berry cures confusion?"

  Confusion....Perism Berry? "Go!" Petilil hurries over to her spot and begins collecting berries. At first I begin to worry that it's all too much for her, but Petilil proves me wrong as she's the first to finish and cross the finish line.

  "Performer Millie?"

  "Uh, a Perism Berry?"

  Bing-bong!"Correct! "

I smile as I get my first point. Only two more to go!

  "Next Question! Out of these three berries, which one does not heal?" Images of a Sitrus, Oran, and Kelpsy berry appear. Well, since the Oran Berry and Sitrus Berry heal....

  Petilil's back at it again, and brings her basket over, despite her small size."Millie again!"

  I reach into the basket and pull out a Kelpsy Berry."The Kelpsy Berry!"

  "Correct!" Bing-bong! Now it's just one more point!

  "Our third! Which Pokemon evolves into Whismicott? Petilil or Cottonee?"

  Petilil and Cottinee? They are a bit alike. But! What kind of Trainer would I be I'd I didn't know my own Pokemon?

  "Petilil! Petilil!" Petilil hops over to the line, but trips before she can cross.

  "Petilil!"

  "Hurry, Houndor!" Another performer, Rebecca, beckons to her Pokemon.

  "You can do it, Petilil! I'm counting on you!"

  "Lil!" Petilil gets up, and hops over the finish line.

  "Millie?"

  "Cottonee!"

  Third bing! "Congratulations, Millie! You get to advance onto the Freestyle Performance round!"

  "Yay! We did it, Petilil!"

  Petilil hops onto my podium, dancing with excitement. "Petilil!"

  "You're okay, right?"

  "Lil!"

  I hug her, my body tingling with exhilaration. "Let's wow everyone with our performance!" 

  I'm glad to be back in the dressing room, no longer under the harsh tension of the spotlight. I'll have to face that criticizing light again later on, and the more so criticizing audience. However, it's been a while since I've done this, and this time I'll put all my experience into our performance, and hopefully our win.

  "Matinee moves on the next stage!" I hear Monsieur Pierre announce on the screen as I begin putting on my dress. 

  "Hm." I tie the ribbon on the back, my thoughts flooding with images of the Princess Key and my top rival and I competing to get it. Still...  I turn to my Pokemon. "We can do it!"

  Then I notice a rather down Espurr."Espurr..."

  "Purr?"

  I smile reassuringly. "We can't let Matinee get greedy with the Princess Keys, can we?"

  Espurr, reinvigorated, nods."Espurr!"

  "Of course you'd say something like that, what with being utterly impoverished in that aspect."

  I turn to see Matinee, with her partner Dratini, and a new Pokemon, a Vulpix.

  Matinee grins haughtily, as if she'll win for sure. "Are you really that sure of yourself? This will be my third Princess Key win."

  That's right..."We won't back down!"

  "Of course not! You'll flop again."

  "No we will not!" It's not as easy anymore to discourage me!

  "Espurr!" Espurr glares at Vulpix and Dratini, who make pompous faces.

  "Let's go, you two." Matinee leaves with her Pokemon, and I'm glad that the pompous trio have left our sight.

  "Let's finish getting dressed." 

After about ten minutes, Matinee is called up to the stage. I get to see most of her performance onscreen. Matinee bows, and her Vulpix and Dratini use Flamethrower and Dragon Rage, which overlap to form an X before bursting into glittery smoke.

  Her Vulpix, dressed fancily with several cream-colored tail decorations behind its real tails, jumps and uses Will-O-Wisp, which spreads around the air. Dratini, dressed up in lacy ties and ribbons, spins in the air, catching the Will-O-Wisp along its body, covering it in a dark blue glow.

  "Millie?"

  "Right!" I don't get to see the rest, as I'm called up to go second.

  "Petilil!" Petilil, dressed up in the decorations I used at the last Showcase, hops happily beside me.

 Espurr, on the other hand, seems anxious and on edge. "It's okay, Espurr. We'll wow them for sure this time."

  "Espurr!"

  We step onto the platform, and my heart thuds in my chest as we're once again greeted with the harsh and blinding spotlight. Before we're entirely up, I bow down low, my arms crossed, with Petilil on my right arm and Espurr on my left.

  I snap open my eyes as the music comes on.  It's a jaunty tune, and it'll go perfectly with what we've been planning! I spin as I stand up fully, Petilil and Espurr meeting in the air then twirling past each other, spreading about overlapping green and purple glitter.

  "Petilil!" Petilil spins and uses Petal Dance, and Espurr lands to spin a beam of Psybeam, distributing the sliced petals around the stage. The crowd cheers, and I run, then jump and catch Espurr's paw, which would be a risky move if she didn't use Psychic. However, she did it perfectly, and with her paw in my hand, we float past Petilil into a beautiful world of pink petals.

  Espurr multitasks and spreads around the petals even more in a tornado-like motion as Petilil on the stage twirls and hops gracefully around. Espurr releases the petals, landing back on the stage, all while keeping me dancing and flying in Petal Dance. 

  As I begin floating down towards the stage to finish the performance, Petilil, in her excitement, uses Energy Ball too early, and before I know it, there's an emerald-colored ball headed straight for me! Surprised, Espurr releases Psychic, causing me to begin to falling towards the ball.

"Uh!"Instinctively, I hit it with a balled-up fist, and to my surprise, it bursts into green sparkles, which trails after me as I'm then brought back safely to the stage. 

  The audience cheers again even louder, and I choose to go with it, grabbing the hems on my dress and waving it around."We're done!" We all bow, and even though my heart us speeding nonstop, I'm really happy. But Petilil...

  "Petilil..."

  I bend over and lift Petilil."Petilil, thanks so much!" I grin.

  "Lil!"

  "Time to vote, everyone!" I hope our performance got to Clara and Clyde. And I hope no one will change their votes because we messed up.

  I look over at Matinee. Her key receives a lot of blue orbs, but when I look at mine, I see all the green orbs flowing into it. Could...Could it be?

  "The voting is finished!" Monsieur Pierre points to the hologrammed keyholes. The one with green is nearly full, and the one with blue is up to just past half. Then that means....

  "Millie is our winner!" I'm the winner! I'm...

  "I'm the winner!!!" I'm waving and crying and laughing and sobbing all at the same time. I won! I really won! I won!!

  "Please accept the Dendimille Town Showcase Princess Key for your win!" I marvel at the golden key placed in my hands. A Princess Key! A real Princess Key!

  "Petilil!"

  "Espurr!"

  "We won the Dendemille Town Showcase! I won my very first Princess Key!" I coddle it, my heart flooding with joy."And...and that's that!"

                      Chapter 8.... End! ; )