"All right, Muk, finish up with Sludge Bomb!" Ash yelled, watching closely as his opponent's male Unfezant flew towards the poison type.

Muk inhaled quickly, expanding with the intake of air, and then fired out the globules of purple sludge. "M-m-m-muuuk!" he yelled, as the attack slammed hard into the incoming Unfezant and it immediately dropped towards the ground, crashing into a rock before landing and remaining still.

"Unfezant is unable to battle, so Muk and Ash are the winners!" Clemont called, waving his arm towards Ash as both trainers recalled their Pokemon.

Ash's opponent, a red-haired guy who was also in the advanced classes, walked across the field and shook Ash's hand. "Thanks for the battle, Ketchum. I guess it was just bad luck with what happened a couple of days ago, huh? I don't know how anyone can beat you."

"No, Dawn and Tierno deserved that one," Ash said honestly, glancing away briefly, still feeling embarrassed with how he'd handled that match. "We all need to keep training, because there's always stronger opponents out there for us to challenge ourselves against," he told the other trainer, looking back.

They said their last goodbyes, and then the other trainer left, as Clemont approached Ash, while the latter clipped Muk's pokeball back to his belt and Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "You really did well there, Ash," Clemont told him happily. "Pikachu, Greninja and Muk completely controlled that battle."

"Well, Pikachu and Greninja can do that a lot, and Muk's had a lot of success for me in the past," Ash said, smiling at the thought of the battle. It was nice to get a good win in after his rough outing a couple of days ago. He felt kind of tired, though. A lot of the more enthusiastic trainers seemed to be doing it as well, but Ash had made sure to be at the training facilities early in the mornings before classes started. It was already catching up to him.

"Hopefully you don't fall asleep in class again," Clemont said jokingly, noticing as Ash attempted to cover up a yawn. "I don't think Reggie was very happy when you started snoring in class yesterday. And he doesn't seem like the type to get mad, so you should probably start taking it easy so you can stay awake."

Ash shrugged and then straightened up a little, forcing his eyes to widen up a bit so he seemed more awake. "Yeah, I know, Clemont. It's just...I'm here so I can eventually achieve my dream and become a Pokemon Master. I didn't look like a future Pokemon Master the other day. I need to train a lot harder."

"Well, Dawn and Tierno both have a lot of battling experience, right? Serena didn't really have a chance to help you out," Clemont pointed out.

"It was my fault," Ash said quickly, not wanting any blame to go on Serena, or his Pokemon. He'd felt off in that battle, and he knew he needed to fix his own problems, rather than trying to point fingers at anyone else. "Serena said she wanted to be part of that battle so that she could learn, and I didn't give her the chance."

"You'll both get better," Clemont told Ash hopefully. "We all will. That's why we're here. Maybe it's a good thing to know you're not perfect. Not that you were thinking that before, but sometimes a humbling experience is good. I got a pretty bad beating at my gym a month before school started."

"Oh really?" Ash asked, as the two of them started making their way out of the battlefield area and to the lobby of the training facilities. Ash didn't know too much about Clemont's Gym Leader history, so he was curious to know how it had gone, considering all he knew about the Lumiose Gym was that Clembot ran it. "What happened?"

Clemont paused for a few moments as the two of them walked, approaching the doors at the entrance of the training facilities and making their way outside. Ash noticed him glance up towards the buildings that could be seen ahead, where the top of Prism Tower was visible. "There was a trainer waiting there for me after I'd been helping Professor Sycamore with some of the things for school. He'd just defeated Clembot with only his Hitmonlee, and had refused the badge. So when I arrived, he wanted to challenge me, and he was kind of rude and full of himself. Anyways, I accepted and..." He trailed off, looking a little embarrassed, and Ash knew that the rest of the story was not a very good one.

"Got beaten pretty badly, huh?" Ash asked, giving Clemont a sympathetic smile. Whoever had beaten Clemont was probably pretty strong. Ash had barely defeated Clembot when he'd challenged the Lumiose Gym, and he was sure that Clemont was even tougher to beat.

Clemont nodded, adjusting his glasses before continuing. "Yeah, it was bad right from the start. My Chespin was beaten with a single hit. Bunnelby put up a pretty good fight, but then he lost as well. Luxray managed to defeat the Hitmonlee, but he was nearly beaten by one hit by the trainer's Scizor. It only ended when the trainer, I think his name was Anton, was stopped by his sister, who said they had to leave."

"Sounds rough," Ash muttered, imagining how Clemont must have felt having been beaten like that. Battling tough trainers was always fun, but you never wanted to lose like that if you were a hardworking trainer. It didn't just make the trainer feel bad, but the Pokemon as well.

They walked for a few more minutes in silence, until they could see the Luxray Building up ahead, where their last class of the week would be held. Their Abilities class with Professor Sycamore. Ash was thinking that this class in particular would be interesting, as he knew that Professor Sycamore would have a lot to teach the students. He was hoping that Sycamore's studies on mega evolution would somehow make its way into this class as well.

When Ash and Clemont made their way into the building, Ash was sure that he could see Serena, Dawn, Shauna and Tierno making their way towards a hallway at the other end of the lobby, although he wasn't too sure. He felt kind of bad, as he'd been spending very little time with anyone but Clemont since his and Serena's loss the other day. He'd been so wrapped up in training, feeling he'd been getting behind.

"Hey Ash, you coming?" Clemont called out, and Ash turned around quickly, seeing that Clemont was approaching the entrance to their lecture hall. The raven-haired trainer quickly followed, and then the two entered the class. It was set up in a similar way to Ash's Levels and Experience class and his Natures class, which were sort of like theatres, with seats arranged in rows going up from a stage down below. There was also a podium and a desk to the side where Professor Sycamore was already standing, preparing for the class. A screen was also set up with a projector hanging from the middle of the class, for whatever kind of presentation Sycamore had planned.

Ash and Clemont took a couple of seats in the centre of a row near the back. Clemont was pulling out a notebook and a pen, while Ash just sat, absentmindedly petting Pikachu who sat comfortably in his lap. He'd figured out pretty quickly that taking notes was not something he'd be very good at, and as much as he believed in working hard to correct weaknesses, taking notes was a weakness he decided he could live with. He clearly wasn't the only one, though. Many of the trainers here were not very academic, so a lot of them had already abandoned note-taking.

As the class started to fill up, Ash looked around the room, and noticed that Professor Sycamore had put up a lot of pictures to demonstrate various abilities of Pokemon, and that many of them were from various Pokemon League competitions. Ash noticed Sawyer's Mega Sceptile in a picture, showing off the Lightning Rod ability and absorbing Tierno's Raichu's Thunder attack. Clemont then nudged Ash, having finished pulling out his necessary note-taking materials, and pointed to a picture to their right.

"Look, that's you in the Sinnoh League, right?" he asked, while Ash looked at the picture. It showed Ash looking on as his Infernape powered up with new energy with Blaze being activated in their battle against Paul. "What ability is that?"

"That's Blaze," Ash answered, surprised that Clemont wouldn't know one of the more common abilities among fire type Pokemon.

Clemont looked surprised, though, and even a little unsure. "I've never seen a Pokemon look like that during Blaze. Are you sure?"

"Infernape's special, I guess," Ash told him jokingly, exchanging a small smile with Pikachu, both of them clearly remembering their battle against Paul, and Infernape's willpower earning them the victory over one of their toughest opponents that they'd ever battled.

Clemont laughed, although he sounded a little uneasy as he did so. "You're an interesting trainer, Ash. You really know how to get the most out of your Pokemon. And you never hurt them by doing it. It really does come from your friendship."

"Well like I told Serena the other day," Ash said, glancing back down at Pikachu while he spoke, "I want to be a Pokemon Master, for sure, but I'm never going to do it at the cost of my Pokemon's happiness. We'll accomplish that goal, because we'll all want it, and not just because I want it. We're a team. A family." Ash suddenly stopped, realizing that he was hearing a small scratching noise, and looked at Clemont, noticing that he was writing. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Uh...taking notes," Clemont answered, looking embarrassed, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "Sorry, it's just that I'm really interested in how you bring so much out of your Pokemon. I guess I just want to look into it more."

Ash laughed, shrugging as though it wasn't a big deal. "Well, it's not that big a deal, is it?" he asked, thinking of how Sawyer had noted a lot of his words down when they'd first met. "You seem to be friends with your Pokemon as well. It's not like it's unusual."

"Yeah, of course," Clemont said quickly. "It's just...look at you and Pikachu, you and Greninja. Heck, even your Tauros a couple of days ago, and your Muk today. Your Pokemon care about you so much and you care about them just as much. You have to see how unique it is."

"I guess I don't," Ash answered honestly, shrugging. "I mean, I know we care about each other, but I guess I just think it's like that with a lot of trainers and their Pokemon. Being a trainer can't just be about battling, even if it's a really fun part of it." He pointed back to the picture of Infernape activating Blaze. "That's something I had to try and show my rival, Paul, Reggie's brother, back in Sinnoh. Infernape used to be his Pokemon and Paul just pushed him to fight and fight until he got stronger. Eventually, when that didn't work, he abandoned Infernape as a Chimchar." Ash paused here, remembering the day he'd taken over as Chimchar's trainer. "Chimchar wanted to get stronger, but battling was only part of the way to do it. He needed his trainer to care about him and he needed to be able to trust his trainer."

Clemont nodded, understanding in his eyes. "It sounds easy to you, but you know, I feel as though I still slip up on this stuff. I want to make my Pokemon happy, but sometimes I still think I put my own needs ahead of theirs. I still have a lot to learn."

In that moment, Professor Sycamore looked up and gazed around the classroom, with most of the students looking ready for the start of class. Before he began, Ash looked over to Clemont once more. "That's why we're here, Clemont. We all have a lot to learn."

"Welcome, class, to your first Abilities lecture," Professor Sycamore greeted, looking around the lecture hall, a big smile on his face. "I hope you've all had a good first week at Lumiose University. I know there's a lot to get used to, as many of you have been off on your journeys and haven't been to school in many years. However, as this is a school dedicated to Pokemon, I hope you're still finding it enlightening and exciting."

There were some murmurs of agreement from the students and then Ash turned to Clemont, an amused look on his face. "School is definitely way different. I do miss being on my journey."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting out of the city from time to time. Hopefully we'll get a chance to do that at some point," Clemont answered, nodding and then turning his attention back to Professor Sycamore, who looked as though he was about to continue.

"Now, for those of you who do not know, although I assume many of you do know, I am Professor Sycamore. I am a Pokemon Researcher here in the Kalos region, with my lab being right here in Lumiose City. I started this university with the hopes of passing on my knowledge to the next generation of Pokemon trainers, knowing that those eager to learn about what I and the other teachers have to offer, would become the kinds of trainers this world needs in order to improve the bonds of people and Pokemon."

For a few more minutes, Sycamore described the process of starting up the university, discussing how he'd met with researchers from other regions and various Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, Coordinators and Performers to plan out some of the classes that would be taught. He even talked about how he'd recruited Clemont prior to opening up the school, making him a little uncomfortable as many students turned in their seats, looking curiously at him. Ash nudged Clemont during this, looking quite proud of his friend. "You're famous, Clemont," he joked.

"I think I'd rather just be Clemont and not famous Clemont," the inventor told him honestly. "I was glad to help, but I don't really want the attention. I think you kind of know what that's like, don't you?" he asked in a quiet tone as Sycamore continued to speak.

"Yeah, I guess I know how you feel. It's not too bad, though. A lot of the students here are Coordinators and Performers, so they don't know too much about what happened in the Kalos League." Ash then shrugged, disappointment flashing across his face. "It's better if they don't know about that."

Clemont narrowed his eyes in confusion at that comment. He got the sense that Ash was talking about his finish at the Kalos League like it was a disaster that would embarrass him if everyone in school knew about it. He had no doubt that Ash was proud of what he'd accomplished, but he could tell that the loss was still painful for the raven-haired trainer.

"And now, with the introductions out of the way, I think it's time that we begin our class," Sycamore announced, looking around excitedly at the students and bringing Clemont's and Ash's attention back to the front of the room. "So, without further ado..." Sycamore quickly pulled out a small remote, and then pointed it up at the projector, clicking a button which turned it on, displaying an image on the screen at the front.

On the screen, an image of the three starting Pokemon in the Kalos region, a Froakie, Fennekin and Chespin, were displayed, with the title of the class, "Abilities", shown above. Underneath the pictures of the starter Pokemon, were two smaller images showing their evolved forms. Clemont could see that the picture of Greninja, underneath Froakie, was circled, a detail that Ash seemed to notice as well. "Maybe he does know something about what my Greninja does," he wondered out loud.

"Now, can anyone tell me what an ability is, exactly?" Sycamore asked the class, looking around and then nodding and pointing as one student raised their hand a few rows away from him.

"It's something that a Pokemon can do while in a battle that will have an effect on how powerful their attacks are," the student answered, sounding fairly confident with the answer that they had given.

Sycamore nodded, and then looked around the room again. "That is correct, but not a complete answer. Many abilities will definitely influence the power of a Pokemon's attacks, but there are far more to a Pokemon's abilities than attack power."

Clemont decided to raise his hand, thinking that he had a fairly good answer in mind. Sycamore looked quite pleased to see him raise his hand, and immediately pointed to the inventor. Clemont quickly sat up straighter, and then gave his answer. An ability is something that has a variety of effects on the Pokemon. It can influence attack power, defence power, status conditions, speed. This can be for either the Pokemon with the ability or the opposing Pokmeon in a battle. Abilities can also have negative effects, such as Slaking's Truant. They can also play a role in situations outside of battle, such as Talonflame's Flame Body, which is useful for hatching eggs."

"Excellent answer, Clemont," Professor Sycamore said happily, nodding at Clemont as he relaxed a little in his seat, happy to have given a fairly good answer. "That sums up a lot of what abilities are about when it comes to Pokemon, for sure, however, there is still much to discuss. For example, why do some Pokemon of the same species have different abilities? Why do abilities change as some Pokemon evolve? Why do some abilities change as Pokemon mega evolve? Why do some abilities exude more power with some Pokemon than with others? And finally, what of the abilities that are still being discovered?" Clemont could already feel his head aching with all the questions Sycamore was asking. He could already tell this class was going to be complicated, even if he knew a lot about various abilities already. Sycamore waited a moment, obviously noticing that the students were a little overwhelmed with his barrage of questions, and then spoke again once people seemed to have caught up. "All right, with this class, we'll look at some of these questions by examining the abilities of the three starter Pokemon of the Kalos region, and some of their...unique qualities." As he said the last part, Clemont noticed Sycamore glancing up towards where he and Ash were sitting, and knew that Ash's Greninja would be of particular interest to Sycamore.

"Do you think what Greninja can do has something to do with an ability?" Ash whispered to Clemont, looking deep in thought. "I'd wondered if it had something to do with mega evolution and Alain mentioned something like that after our battle at the Kalos League."

"Maybe it's something to do with both?" Clemont suggested, half asking it and half stating it.

Ash shrugged, still looking confused as he and Clemont turned back to look at Professor Sycamore as he continued his lecture. "For the first Pokemon, we'll discuss Chespin, and its evolution line of Quilladin and Chesnaught. Does anyone here have a Chespin, or at least one of its evolved forms, Quilladin or Chesnaught?" A few people raised their hands, including Clemont. Sycamore nodded at a few, as though remembering some of the trainers who had likely received their Chespin from him when they began their journeys. "Can one of you tell me what Chespin's most common ability is?" he asked, looking hopefully around the class.

Clemont then raised his hand, remembering one of his battles with Chespin, around the time that they had first met, when it had activated. Sycamore pointed to Clemont, seeing that he was the only one to raise his hand, and then he answered. "Most Chespin will have the Overgrow ability," Clemont explained, remembering the green glow that had surrounded Chespin, and his powered up grass attacks. "When a Pokemon's endurance is low and if their ability is Overgrow, their grass type attacks increase in power."

Sycamore nodded, pointing up to the picture of Chespin on the screen at the front of the class. "Yes, Overgrow, along with abilities such as Blaze and Torrent, which are Froakie's and Fennekin's common abilities, is often discussed as an "in a pinch" ability that is used when a Pokemon is in a tough spot in a battle. Chespin, along with many other grass types, including the starting grass type Pokemon for many other regions, will often have this ability. As Chespin evolves, its evolved forms, Quilladin and Chesnaught will hold on to this ability. The same can be said for Froakie and Fennekin. However, each of these Pokemon also have what is called a hidden ability. These abilities are rare among these Pokemon, but can provide unique advantages, or disadvantages, when in battle or even outside of battle. Chespin's hidden ability is known as Bulletproof, which allows it to be unaffected by specific moves. Fennekin and Froakie also have hidden abilities, known as Magician and Protean respectively. These hidden abilities are quite uncommon and many trainers will spend countless hours searching for Pokemon with these hidden abilities and never find one."

A student near the front of the class then raised his hand, looking quite interested in what Sycamore was saying. When the Pokemon Researcher signalled for the student to go ahead, he pointed up at the screen, seemingly towards Froakie's picture, and then asked, "What about Froakie, Frogadier and Greninja? Why is Greninja circled? Does it have to do with Ash Ketchum's Greninja and what it did during the Kalos League?"

Sycamore was quiet a few moments, looking up towards where Ash and Clemont were sitting, clearly thinking carefully about what he was going to say. "Yes, Greninja is definitely an interesting case, particularly when it comes to Ash's Greninja," he said, gesturing up towards Ash. He then aimed his remote and clicked again, changing the image on screen to one from the Kalos League, showing Greninja as he transformed, the torrent of water around his body. "I admit," Sycamore began, shrugging and shaking his head a little, "there are still many questions to ask and answer when it comes to Ash's Greninja, and how it relates to others of the species. However, I do believe that it has connections to both mega evolution and the ability of the Pokemon."

At this, Ash finally raised his hand, clearly wanting to know more about anything that could help him understand his Pokemon. As soon as Sycamore signalled for him to ask his question, Ash started speaking. "So do you think Greninja has a new ability? One that isn't Torrent or his other ability?" he asked, exchanging a quizzical look with Pikachu.

"I think that's a possible explanation, but there is still a lot of research that needs to be done on the topic," Sycamore admitted, smiling somewhat apologetically. "There are stories of a similar phenomenon centuries ago, but I can't be sure that it is exactly the same or how it might relate. My current theory is that it is connected to another hidden ability, along with mega evolution." He then walked over to his desk and pulled out a box, before walking out towards his podium, holding it up, and opening it. "If any of you have seen these before, you will know that the lighter stone, is a Key Stone, while the darker stone, is a Mega Stone, in this case, Garchompite. When the bond between a Pokemon and trainer is at its purest, the Key Stone of the trainer, will connect to the Pokemon's Mega Stone and the phenomenon of mega evolution will occur." He then looked back up towards Ash and smiled, looking excited about the complicated question he was discussing. "Perhaps Greninja has an ability that makes the mega evolutions stones irrelevant. Perhaps your bond is that strong."

Dawn, Serena, Shauna and Tierno were all taking their seats in the performance theatre that would be the location of their Appeals class in the Luxray Building. It was similar to the Contest halls that Dawn had been in before, and according to Serena and Shauna, it was similar to the Performance theatres as well. The seats were set up somewhat like a movie theatre and a stage was down below, where Dawn could already see Fantina waiting patiently for the students to get ready. She looked the same as the last time Dawn had seen her, wearing her purple dress and her violet hair still done up in four puffed up bunch

"You said Fantina is from Sinnoh as well, right Dawn?" Shauna asked from her seat to Dawn's right. "Isn't she a Gym Leader there?"

Dawn nodded, smirking a little at the thought. Ash had told her a couple of stories of having to wait for his badge at Fantina's gym, due to her regular absences, which were often due to Contests. "Yeah, she's the Hearthrome City Gym Leader. She's very enthusiastic about Contests, though. She was a judge at the Sinnoh Grand Festival and she really knows her stuff when it comes to coordinating.

"I wonder how she'll run this class," Serena seemed to think out loud from Dawn's left. The Coordinator turned to see her friend staring ahead at the stage in deep thought. "In the Appeals round of a Contest, the focus has to be on the Pokemon, doesn't it? Not really on the trainer. At least, not as much as a Performance would allow."

"Yeah," Dawn said with a nod, seeing why Serena might be a bit concerned. "I'm guessing she has something planned, though. Half the people in this class are Performers." She didn't really know if that was true or not, but Dawn was still fairly confident that Fantina wouldn't make her class favour one group of students over the others.

"Wait, if Appeals are focused solely on the Pokemon, wouldn't that make my rhythmic dancing pointless?" Tierno asked, looking somewhat horrified as he looked over from his seat next to Shauna.

"If that's what makes your Pokemon shine, then that's what you should do, Tierno," Dawn said encouragingly. "Besides, it's not like the trainer is completely ignored in Appeals. It's just that the Pokemon is the focus."

It looked as though Tierno was about to say something else, but just in that moment, the entire lecture hall seemed to go quiet all at once and Dawn looked down at the stage to see Fantina standing up straight, right at the centre in the back. Knowing that she had the full attention of her students, Fantina pulled out a pokeball, and Dawn could just barely see the familiar sight of a ball capsule, which was a special device that, along with a specific seal or sticker, would produce special effects when releasing a Pokemon from its pokeball.

Fantina's display didn't disappoint at all. After a quick bow, she stood up straight again, and then tossed her pokeball up high, shouting, "Drifblim, to ze stage!" in her heavy French accent. Then, a swirling vortex of purple smoke emerged from the pokeball, spinning around the stage, before suddenly, a Pokemon burst forth from the centre. It was a purple balloon-like Pokemon with what looked like a small white cloud on its head, and four ribbon-like arms extending out. The purple smoke billowed off of its body, giving it a spooky, yet still oddly beautiful look. It was the exact kind of entrance Dawn would have expected.

The class immediately began to applaud, almost everyone looking extremely impressed. Even among those who had competed in Grand Festivals and Masterclass Showcases, it was clearly an impressive entrance. "Not bad, huh guys?" Dawn asked her friends, who were all clapping as well.

"What was that thing her pokeball was in?" Serena asked, looking down curiously as Fantina pocketed her pokeball.

"It's a capsule," Dawn explained, understanding why Serena and many others wouldn't know what it was. "It's used in Sinnoh Contests for grand entrances. You put your pokeball in it and then put a seal on it with whatever effect you want. There's tons of them, like stars and hearts and fireworks. You definitely need to try it out for your Performances."

Serena nodded, looking interested, and then the two girls returned their attention down below so they could pay attention to what Fantina had to say. "Welcome to my Appealz class tout le monde," she called out happily. "My name iz Fantina, and I am from ze wonderful place known as ze Sinnoh region. Some of you may know zat I am a Gym Leader back home, but do not worry, Contests, and even Performances are two of my specialtiez."

A student near the front then raised their hand, and Fantina quickly pointed to her, signalling for the girl to speak. "How is it that you know about Performances?" she asked eagerly, showing she was an aspiring Performer.

"Zat is an excellent question madame," Fantina said happily. "It just so happenz to be zat I am good friendz with ze Performance Host Monsieur Pierre here in ze Kalos region. We keep in touch quite regularly and discuss ze up and coming starz of ze Contests and Performances going on. I am quite looking forward to coaching ze joint Performer and Coordinator team here at Lumiose University with what I have learned from both competitions and my own experience as a Gym Leader."

"Do you know Monsieur Pierre?" Dawn asked, looking at Shauna and then Serena. It was now her turn to be curious.

Serena was the first to answer, keeping her voice low as Fantina continued to answer questions from various students. "Yeah, he hosts the Showcases around the Kalos region. He hosted a fancy dance party last year as well. He's pretty popular."

"You know, I still don't get why we didn't go to that," Tierno muttered, looking at Serena with an odd smirk on his face. "I would've loved to go with you, Serena."

Dawn had realized fairly quickly that Tierno did this kind of thing with not only Serena and Shauna, even her a couple times, but quite a few girls. Serena seemed to be his main focus, though, and she didn't seem to reciprocate that interest. She managed an awkward smile, though, and just gave a small shake of her head. "I...don't think it would have worked."

Luckily for Serena, Fantina seemed to be finishing up with her questions, and looked about ready to actually start the class, so they all turned their attention back to her. "All right, class," she called out, her Drifblim floating down to hover by her side, "I believe it iz now time to truly begin. Drifblim, let us show zeez lovely students a performance they won't forget."

"Have you ever seen Fantina do this before?" Serena asked, leaning forward in her seat as Fantina and Drifblim got ready.

"A couple of times," Dawn answered. "She beat my friend Zoey in a Contest battle once, and that was before Zoey ended up winning the Sinnoh Grand Festival."

Serena and the others looked pretty impressed by that, and all of them watched closely as Fantina stepped back, nodding to Drifblim to signal that they were starting. "Drifblim, use Ominous Wind sil vous plait!"

The entire lecture hall watched in stunned silence as the ghost type shot up high into the air, before spinning rapidly, a dark purple wind shooting out in spirals from its ribbon-like arms. It wasn't too much to hide Drifblim's form among the haze, but the Blimp Pokemon looked eerie within it, which was clearly the effect that Fantina was going for.

"Now, use Psychic!" Fantina called out, spinning around as she made the order, looking like she was doing one of Tierno's dance moves.

Drifblim responded to the order immediately, swooping down, before hovering just above Fantina, and then it looked up, body glowing in a blue aura. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and then many students gasped as the remnants of the Ominous Wind display began to shift, the blue aura of Psychic forming around different forms that were being made with the smoke of the wind. Dawn quickly realized that Drifblim was making copies of itself with the smokey, purple air from its Ominous Wind. As soon as about a dozen copies were made, Drifblim floated a little higher, waiting for Fantina's next order.

"And finish zis up with a beautiful Will-O-Wisp and Psychic combo!" Fantina shouted, spreading out her arms, and looking up excitedly towards her Pokemon.

With surprising speed, Drifblim shot forward, circling its assembly of copies, a blue flame coming out and circling the line. As Drifblim finished, Dawn could see that the light blue aura surrounded the flame as well, although it was a little less noticeable than with the Ominous Wind copies. When the circling flame was finally complete, Drifblim lowered itself to hover over Fantina once more, and then suddenly, the flames converged on the Drifblim copies, exploding each on contact, and firing out purple and blue fireworks from the centre of the explosion.

Dawn and her friends were as amazed as the rest of the crowd as they applauded their new teacher's performance. Even for a group that had seen the Top Coordinators and a Kalos Queen in their performances, it was definitely impressive what Fantina had showed off, along with her Drifblim.

Once the class had settled down a little bit, Fantina gave a small bow, before straightening up and then looking around the class. "I am glad zat you all enjoyed my little demonstration. I do hope it was impressive enough for even those of you who have competed in Grand Festivals for Contests or Masterclass Showcases for Performances." She paused as many students called out, assuring that her performance had been more than impressive. When she spoke again, she was looking up at her Drifblim, clearly deep in thought. "Now, why is it zat a performance such as ze one I just showed, be successful in a Pokemon Contest or Showcase?"

A student quickly raised their hand from the front row, and Fantina pointed to her, signalling for her to answer. "That's simple, really," she answered, as though it was obvious, which in some ways it was. "It showed off the power and beauty of your Pokemon. Drfiblim executed three moves and manipulated them each with perfect precision, before finally using them in a final, beautiful display."

"Ah, well merci beaucoup for zat," Fantina told her, nodding her head in thanks, "however, zer is more to it than that. Zer is always more to it than that. I believe zer is more to it than even I know now, although zer is still one little thing zat I would like for you to understand about ensuring zat your performances are the best that they can be."

To Dawn's surprise, Serena held up her hand next, and Fantina quickly noticed, nodding for Serena to give her answer. "You and Drifblim showed off the close bond that you share," she said slowly, almost as though she was trying to find the right words as she spoke. "With each order, you didn't tell Drifblim the specific actions to do, but it knew exactly how to perform them. You clearly trusted each other and were in perfect sync."

"C'est magnifique!" Fantina shouted, clapping her hands together as she looked up towards Serena, who was smiling shyly. "Zat is exactly it. Any judge, whether it be a crowd in a Showcase, or judges in a Contest, will be able to see if you and your Pokemon trust one another. If you lack zat trust, your Performance fails, no matter how beautiful it may appear on ze surface. A battle requires zis trust between trainer and Pokemon, and a performance is no different."

"Sylveon, use Fairy Wind! Braixen, use Hidden Power! Then Pancham, you jump up and hit that Hidden Power with Arm Thrust!" Serena took a deep breath and stood back after calling her orders, watching closely as her Pokemon leaped into action.

Sylveon bounded into the middle of the stage, standing a few feet in front of Serena, standing up straight and aiming her feelers into the air. "Syl-sylveon!" she cried out, as a gust of sparkling pink wind shot up above her, swirling around, looking beautiful just on its own.

Braixen was next, running up from the side of the stage, trailing her branch-wand behind her, sparks shooting off from it, before she deposited it in her tail, held up her paws, and then launched a blue sphere of energy into Sylveon's Fairy Wind. "Braixen-brai!" she called out excitedly, watching as her attack seemed to spin in circles within the pink wind.

Finally, Pancham made his move, running up from his side of the stage, leaping into the air and somersaulting into Sylveon's Fairy Wind, which seemed to pick him up and carry him towards Braixen's Hidden Power attack. His arm glowed white as he approached, and with a loud shout of, "Pancham-pan!" he slammed his fist into the orb, and it exploded in a shower of blue sparks as Pancham used the momentum to propel himself higher into the air.

Serena looked up, smiling proudly at her Pokemon's performance, seeing Pancham lit up by the lights of the stage and looking mystical in the pink dust of Fairy Wind and the sparks from Hidden Power shooting up all around him. Sylveon was careful to let him down slowly, and once the three Pokemon were finally settled, they turned to their trainer, each looking hopefully at her.

After their Appeals class, Serena, Dawn, Shauna and Tierno had all been inspired to head over to the training facilities to test out some of the techniques Fantina had shown them and overall, just to hang out with their Pokemon. They'd all practised hard for a couple of hours, before finally agreeing that they'd been working hard enough for the day and decided to head back to work on some of the things from some of the other classes.

Serena had decided to come back, though, once she'd finished a late lunch. She'd checked to see if Clemont and Ash had wanted to come, but hadn't seen them since the day before and wasn't able to find them after lunch, so just headed back to the training facilities alone. She found it a little strange, but for most of the time since arriving at Lumiose University, the main stage of the training facility was often open, with most trainers, even Performers and Coordinators, deciding to train on the battlefields instead. Serena definitely enjoyed this fact, as she liked the peace and quiet it offered for her and her Pokemon, and it allowed her to get lost in her training.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though she had got a little too lost in her training. As she looked happily at her Pokemon in front of her, about to congratulate them on their hard work, she glanced up and noticed a clock at the other end of the theatre. It was already time for dinner. She'd been at this for hours and now that she was paying attention, she could see that her three Pokemon were looking exhausted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you three," she quickly said, rushing forward and kneeling in front of her three Pokemon. "I shouldn't have pushed you so hard to train. I just got so motivated after Fantina's class that I wanted to keep working with you guys. Seeing how she worked with her Drifblim really inspired me."

"Brai-braixen-brai," Braixen told her comfortingly, placing a paw and Serena's shoulder, smiling at her trainer. Sylveon mimicked the action by placing a feeler on Serena's other shoulder, while Pancham gave her leg a small hug.

"You three are the best," Serena whispered, smiling at her three Pokemon. "I can't wait for us to get a proper chance to perform again. We'll make it onto that Performance team for sure, and then we'll win the IPL. Does that sound good to you?"

"That sounds like an awesome plan," a familiar voice suddenly said. Serena jumped a little at the sudden interruption, and looked up to see that she was no longer alone in the theatre, with someone else now walking up onto the stage.

"Hi Ash," she greeted, somewhat awkwardly. She'd felt a bit like he'd been upset with her for how they'd done in their battle together, despite Shauna's and Dawn's assurances that he would never act that way. "Um...what...are you doing here?"

He shrugged, standing still a few feet away from her and her Pokemon. "Same as you, I guess. I've been spending a lot of time training here. I'm guessing you've noticed?"

Serena let out a small laugh at that. "Yeah, I haven't seen too much of you. And today you've kept Clemont away from all of us as well."

"Clemont was only training with me this morning," Ash said, looking a little embarrassed. "I think he headed over to his gym to check on Clembot earlier. He'll probably be back at the Greninja Building by now." He then rubbed the back of his head, looking down at the ground, almost shamefully. "But yeah, I've kind of disappeared a bit too much, I guess." He exchanged a quick glance with Pikachu on his shoulder and then looked back up at Serena. "Sorry about that. It's not about our loss. I mean, it is but it isn't."

Serena didn't exactly know how to answer that, but decided she'd go along with it. "So, you don't think I screwed up the battle for us? I thought I let you, Pancham and Tauros down. I got all distracted by how fast everything was going. I just couldn't keep up, I guess."

"No, things like that happen, but I didn't make it any easier. I think my battling has been off since the Kalos League. Nothing has felt the same since then." Serena was shocked to see Ash looking so down. Even after their loss to Dawn and Tierno, he'd put on a brave face. Now, he wasn't even trying to hide how he was feeling. It didn't last long, though, as he quickly rubbed his nose, chuckling a little. "I won't bother you with that, though."

"It's okay," Serena assured him, standing up and stretching her legs a little, feeling stiff from her hours of training. She decided to recall her tired Pokemon to their pokeballs, thanking them first for their hard work, and then she pocketed them and turned back to Ash. "Oh, um, did you see my training?"

Ash smiled, before nodding towards the exit of the theatre, as if suggesting they start walking out. Serena nodded in agreement, and the two of them began to make their way towards the exit, before Ash answered her. "I thought it was really amazing, Serena. I guess I don't know too much about this kind of thing, but if I was a judge, I'd say it was really good."

"Oh, thank you," Serena said happily, blushing a little from the praise, even though she knew she'd only been doing a very minor part of her routine for what Ash had likely seen. A compliment was a compliment, though, and she was happy to accept it. "Have you ever seen a Showcase before?" she decided to ask, as the two exited the theatre and walked out into the hallway.

Ash thought for a moment and then shook his head. "Not really. I've seen clips of them on TV, but I've never actually been to one. I can't wait to see you and Shauna perform, though. I know I'll be watching with you two involved. Same with Dawn and her Contests."

"Don't forget Tierno," Serena said quickly, laughing at the thought of Tierno hiding his obvious desire to try Contests.

"Right...Tierno as well," Ash corrected, laughing as well.

"When do you think the IPL will start?" Serena suddenly asked, the question seemingly popping into her head. She realized that, although many of the students had excitedly been talking about it, there hadn't been any mention of tryouts or anything by any of the teachers.

Ash was silent for a moment, and then laughed again, almost as though he was still laughing about the Tierno Contest joke. Serena looked at him in confusion, wondering what was so funny, and then he pointed ahead, down the hall to the lobby up ahead. "I think that answers your question," he said excitedly, walking faster, clearly wanting to see what he had pointed out from up close.

Serena quickly followed after him, and then the two were standing in the lobby a moment later, looking up at a sign.

Lumiose University – IPL Tryouts

The Lumiose Luxrays Need Their Team!

Students, the largest Pokemon competition outside of the Pokemon League, Grand Festival and Masterclass Showcase is coming to our brand new school! The Interschool Pokemon League will test all the skills you've learned on your previous journeys, and all that you learn in school, on your quest to be the very best. The Lumiose Luxrays may be a new school, but we believe we can compete with the best. If you think you have what it takes to join either the LU Battle Team or the LU Performance Team, Lumiose University wants you to step up and tryout for next Saturday! The competition will be fierce not only against the other schools, but also among your own peers as you compete for a spot on the team. Only advanced trainers will be permitted to participate, although all trainers are welcome to observe. Rules for the tryouts for each team are listed below.

If you wish to tryout for the Battle Team, you must be enrolled in advanced classes. Those who sign up will compete in a round robin tournament, and the three trainers with the best records will be selected to compete for the Lumiose University Battle Team.

If you wish to tryout for the Performance Team, you must be enrolled in advanced classes. Coordinators who sign up will compete in a round robin tournament, and the two trainers with the best records will be selected to compete for the Lumiose University Performance Team in the coordinating slots. Performers will participate in a quiz, baking challenge and fashion show, along with a freestyle performance and the two with the best records will be selected to compete for the Lumiose University Performance Team in the performance slots.

Serena felt a rush of wind as Ash jumped forward, pulling out a pen and immediately signing up for the battling tryouts. "Yes! This is just what we need, isn't it Pikachu?" he asked his partner Pokemon excitedly. "Nothing like a bunch of battles to get us going again." As soon as he was done signing up, he offered his pen to Serena. "You're signing up, too, right?"

"Yeah, of course,"Serena said quickly, taking the pen and quickly signing her name on the list for Performers. When she was done, and she handed the pen back to Ash and he was putting it away, she looked a little nervously at the format for the tryouts. "Aren't you a little nervous about how this works?" she asked. "It seems like one mistake and you could lose your chance."

"Hey, if you do anything half as good as what you were doing while training back there," Ash said confidently, "and you'll be winning the whole IPL before you know it."

Serena laughed at that, and raised an eyebrow at Ash. "Same with you, I'm sure. If you and Pikachu can battle half as well as you did in the Kalos League, this should be easy."

"IPL, here we come!" Ash announced happily, turning happily towards the exit of the training facilities. "We've got trainers to fight and battles to win."