Ultra Aether

The Performance

Ash couldn't stop gaping. He and his opponent, Hau, had been standing in the waiting room for a while already, and situated on one of the walls was a large screen that allowed them to keep tabs on what was going on in the stadium. And now, the screen showed that Serena was onstage, about to perform!

Serena was wearing an outfit that was seemingly planned specifically for this performance. She wore a pale orange sleeveless dress with a full skirt layered with ruffled pink and yellow tulle fabric. A thick orange satin ribbon circled the top of the skirt, forming a perfectly tied bow on her back. Flower wreaths of pink, orange, and yellow circled her wrists and her ankles,  pink ballet flats on her feet, and to top it off, a tiara decorated with flowers was perched on her head. Serena's outfit wasn't too formal, nor too casual, just perfect.

Her outfit was probably inspired by a Comfey, Ash thought, unaware of his cheeks warming slightly. She looks great.

Delphox, who was standing next to Serena, had pink, orange, and yellow flowers woven into its long ear fur. It wore a kimono-like dress, the hem decorated with a pink and orange flowery pattern. The long, flowing sleeves were also decorated with the same pattern.

Pancham wore a pair of sunglasses with a yellow trim, and an orange bandanna was tied around its neck.

Sylveon had orange and yellow flowers woven into its fur, and yellow ribbons were wrapped loosely around its ribbon feelers. The rest of its outfit was similar to the outfit it wore in Kalos, only it was orange and yellow.

Roserade had a few pink flowers in its hair and long flowing ribbons were wrapped around its wrists and ankles. It wore a pale orange vest and a long tulle skirt. Multicolored flowers were also nestled into the roses on the ends of its hands.

Swanna wore orange, pink, and yellow flower wreaths around its neck and feet. Long yellow fabric flowed from the flower wreath, forming a sort of cape. Beads were threaded into the feathers on its head, and some ribbon was woven into its tail feathers and wings.

The audience cheered. Lively music began streaming from the speakers. Serena smiled, and began to dance.

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"Sylveon! Use Fairy Wind!" Serena called out.

"Veon!" Sylveon trilled.

Sylveon raised its ribbon feelers into the air and began rotating them quickly. Soon, a glittering whirlwind surrounded Serena and her Pokémon. While the wind wasn't powerful enough to lift them into the air, but it did cause their clothes to waft around them in a pretty way.

"Use Razor Wind!" Serena exclaimed, thrusting her hand up towards Swanna.

Swanna took off into the air, its cape billowing out behind it, its wings glowed white. Letting out a loud call, it flapped its powerful wings, sending out sparkling air blades towards the whirlwind and dividing it into five smaller whirlwinds. Then it landed on the ground next to Serena, dancing along with everyone else.

"Alright!" Serena exclaimed. "Pancham, use Stone Edge and Delphox, use Psychic!"

"Pancham!" Pancham exclaimed. It leaped up and received a boost from Serena before it spun around in the air and hurtled back down, slamming its fist into the ground.

Glowing blue rock pillars shot up from the stage. Each one came up from under one of the six figures on the stage, forming a ring of platforms with Serena in the center.

Delphox's let out a trill and its eyes glowed blue, and the five separate whirlwinds took on a bluish tint. The whirlwinds were pushed outwards until they formed a circle around the performers.

Each Pokémon already knew what to do next. Delphox shot out a Flamethrower, Sylveon used Swift, Pancham fired a Dark Pulse, Swanna used Ice Beam, and Roserade used Solar Beam, with each Pokémon had fired their attacks into a different whirlwind. Now the whirlwinds were tinted with orange, white, purple, teal, and yellow, and had taken on a shape that resembled a flower bud.

The Stone Edge that they had been standing on dissolved in a shower of blue sparkles, and Serena, along with her Pokémon, landed lightly on the ground.

Roserade then swept the roses on its hands along the floor. Grass began to spread across the stage. When the grass reached the flower buds, they bloomed into five beautiful different colored flowers.

The crowd cheered and applauded the beautiful display.

Serena thrust her hand into the air. "Sylveon, Roserade, use Fairy Wind and Leaf Storm!" she called out.

Sylveon and Roserade twirled and unleashed the glittering attacks, which merged and formed a whirlwind that lifted Serena and her Pokémon into the air. The wind also swept away the flowers, but the large whirlwind was now tinted with a swirling rainbow of colors. Serena and her Pokémon grinned; they were having fun.

"Now!" Serena exclaimed.

Just like they had rehearsed that morning, each Pokémon fired off their strongest attacks. The attacks collided, creating a glittering shower of multicolored sparks.

Then, as all the other Pokémon landed on the ground next to the whirlwind, Serena twirled around in the air and performed a series of somersaults and flips. Just as the whirlwind disappeared, Swanna flew up and caught Serena on its back, then gracefully spiraled back down to the ground. Serena immediately hopped off of Swanna's back.

"Finished!" She exclaimed, and posed along with her Pokémon.

The crowd went wild. Cheers and applause came from all directions.

Serena caught her breath, then turned to face her Pokémon. "That was fun, wasn't it?" Serena asked cheerfully. All her Pokémon trilled happily. 

Serena's smile faded slightly as the stage they were standing on began to lower, and the battlefield for the first battle began to rise up.

The battles would be starting soon. Serena took a deep breath in anticipation.

Good luck, Ash.

—————

Ash was left stunned and in awe of Serena's performance. His mouth was hanging wide open. Hau, who was also gaping at the screen, grinned and exclaimed, "That was so cool!"

"Ash? Hau?" A voice broke Ash out of his shock. He turned and saw a referee standing near a pair of double doors.

"Follow me," He said. "Your battle is about to start."

Ash and Hau nodded at each other and followed the referee into the stadium.

Here we go.

Hi! ChicChic here.

Ok, so I really really wanted to include some kind of performance, since I absolutely loved all the performance episodes in Pokémon XY and XYZ.

Ash and Hau's battle is next!

See you in the next chapter!

Edit(2022): Called it.