Laurier Maison
Kiloude City
Serena, Yancy, Shauna, Miette, Nini, Blanche, Kazalie, Shulin, and all of their Pokémon watched the TV set as Monsieur Pierre twirled his staff around in the air. They held their breaths, anticipating the Showcase host's announcement of the Theme Performance. Given the nature of the Exhibition Showcase, it could be anything...
"Now," Pierre announced, "the Theme Performance for this special Exhibition Showcase is..."
A panel suddenly opened up in the floor, right next to him, and a human-sized carnival wheel rose from underneath. At the same time, a gargantuan TV screen lowered itself directly above the stage. Once both the wheel and the TV stopped moving, the TV activated itself, boasting a live, HD feed of the wheel to the audience.
Serena's blue eyes widened at the sight of the wheel. Thanks to the enlarged live feed on the TV screen above the stage, she knew it wasn't just any other carnival wheel. All of the options written on each square were the Theme Performances of past Pokémon Showcases, including all of the ones she participated in. Pokémon Styling. Poké Puff Baking. Pokémon Quiz. Poké Puff Performance. Rhyhorn Herding. There were also a few that she didn't recognize at all, such as Pokémon Rescue and Pokémon Compatibility Test; she hoped she wouldn't have to land any of those ones.
"Absolutely random!"
"WHAT?!" exclaimed more than a few Performers in the dressing room.
"Well, this oughta be interesting..." remarked Miette.
"For every round," continued Pierre as he smiled gleefully, "each trio of Pokémon Performers will compete in a different, randomly selected Theme Performance, all of them taken from the Pokémon Showcases of the past season! And how will each Theme Performance be assigned, you ask? The answer is simple!"
Pierre approached the carnival wheel, placed a gloved hand on it, and spun it, blending the differently colored squares into a fascinating, dizzying mix. The audience gasped collectively with excitement, their eyes entranced by the spinning wheel.
"As you can see, I spin this wheel, and once it stops, there will be an arrow pointing to an individual Theme Performance. Obviously, that will become the assigned Theme Performance for the round!"
Up on their personal upper-floor balcony, Aria and Palermo observed intently as the carnival wheel continued to spin.
"Randomly selected Theme Performances per trio of Performers, huh?" Aria remarked, smiling. "I'm quite impressed."
"I've seen better," Palermo replied dismissively, her voice monotone in its seriousness. "But hopefully this unpredictable format is all that it takes to keep the Performers straight on their toes. This is still a Showcase, after all."
Aria looked at her teacher. "Always the serious one, aren't you, Palermo?"
"Whenever the quality of the Performers and their performances is concerned, then yes."
A few seconds later, the wheel finally slowed to a stop, and the arrow was pointing at a blue square. Pierre took a quick look at it before smiling and glancing back at the audience.
"And the first Theme Performance is...Pokémon Quiz!"
"Pokémon Quiz, huh?" Nini replied, an eyebrow raised. "I remember that one back in Anistar City."
"But before we begin, I must add, mon public!" Pierre declared. "To ensure certain Performers do not have an unfair advantage over others based on past experiences, all the Theme Performances have been tweaked! Therefore, these will not be completely the same Theme Performances that they have competed in for this past season!"
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𝒯 𝒽 𝑒 𝒲 𝒶 𝓎 𝒲 𝑒 𝒲 𝒾 𝓁 𝓁 𝐵 𝑒
FanfictionDisclaimer-I don't own pokemon and this story and also the cover pic. The story credit goes to the owner, "TheCartoonFanatic01". While in Kiloude City for a Pokémon Showcase, Ash and Serena meet a girl who claims to be their daughter from their futu...
