𝒯 𝒽 𝑒 𝒲 𝒶 𝓎 𝒲 𝑒 𝒲 𝒾 𝓁 𝓁 𝐵 𝑒

Chapter 17: A Chance Encounter With Royalty

Laurier Maison

"And here are our next trio of Performers!" Pierre shouted as he twirled his staff.

Certain sections of the audience erupted into massive, earsplitting cheering as Alouette, Elma, and Lily rose to the stage on their assigned platforms, accompanied by their Pokémon. Since they didn't recognize any of the Performers onstage, Ash and his friends merely winced and covered their ears as Alouette, Elma, and Lily's rabid fans roared with excitement all around them.

"YEAH, YOU GO, ALOUETTE!" one fan cried.

"COME ON, ELMA!" another fan screamed. "BLOW THESE OTHER GIRLS OUT OF THE WATER!"

"THAT'S OUR DEAR LILY!" a woman shrieked.

Selene couldn't help but stare at a small but tight-knit group of fans who had just stood up on the row of seats in front of her. They were clearly fans of Lily's, since they were wearing bright-orange shirts with photos of the blonde Performer both on the front and the back. The woman who apparently led this group also seemed to resemble Lily quite a bit, with her own blonde hair styled into twin pigtails, and her green eyes gleaming behind small rectangular glasses.

"YEAH, LILY!" screeched the man standing beside the twin-tailed woman. "MAKE YOUR PARENTS PROUD!"

"Wow," Selene thought. "I'd hate to be Lily. Her mommy and daddy look really silly..."

Selene then noticed the teenage boy sitting between Lily's parents. He was the only one in the group not standing and cheering with reckless abandon. Instead, he shrunk further in his seat, looking extremely uncomfortable as he continued to listen to music on his phone. His unruly mat of blond hair seemed to be covering his eyes-

"BIIIII!"

Eyes widening with alarm, Selene looked down and saw Celebi squirming desperately in her arms and covering its ears.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" the girl cried over the audience's uproar, tugging at Ash's collar to catch the Trainer's attention. "It's too loud for Celebi! Can we please leave? Please?!"

Ash and Pikachu both looked at Celebi and saw what the problem was. "Alright," he replied. Then, he turned to Clemont and caught his attention. "Hey, Selene wants to leave. The noise is disturbing Celebi."

"Okay," the inventor said, nodding with understanding. "You take Selene out to the lobby. I'll find you and call you over when we recognize someone onstage."

"I'll go with you, Ash," Nate volunteered.

"Me too," Calem added, raising his hand. "I need to go to the bathroom anyway."

"We'll come along as well," Layla said, as Moose nodded beside her with agreement. "I need to get some refreshments."

Selene hopped off Ash's lap, allowing the Pallet Town local to stand up and follow his future daughter out onto the aisle. Nate, Calem, Layla, and Moose all stood up and followed Ash's lead, with Layla moving extremely cautiously so as to not disturb her enlarged abdomen.

"What about you, Grace?" Moose asked, glancing over his shoulder at his sister-in-law. "Are you coming?"

"Nope," Grace replied absentmindedly, her fascinated eyes glued to the Rhyhorn. "I think I'm going to see this Theme Performance through..."

"If you insist..."

As Ash's group left, Clemont glanced at Bonnie. "How about you, Bonnie?" he asked. "Aren't you gonna go with them?"