(In the Arena)

The stadium was covered to ensure that sunlight doesn't pass through. Everyone, who's sitting in the dark, chats anxiously, awaiting the Kalos Queen's arrival. Suddenly, there is a noise. Everyone turns to see the battlefield splitting into two. As both sides of the battlefield are mechanically pulled away, another platform rises, showing Serena and her Pokemon.

The moment Serena comes into view, surrounded by her trusty trio of partners Sylveon, Braixen and Pancham, the crowd starts going wild. All the boys drool and cheer enthusiastically, much to the chagrin of their girlfriends. Serena is wearing a mildly skimpy red, pink dress with a black coloured frilly skirt. She has two pink ribbons, one on her forehead and the other is pinned onto her dress. Ash notices that Serena's wearing the necklace he brought her on their first dance night, on her neck.

Serena gives her characteristic cute yet charming smile and shoots a few winks into the audiences, much to the annoyance of all the relationship involved girls present. She then delicately holds her skirt and curtsies in the most dignified manner possible. The moment she does so the crowd goes completely silent, knowing that her performance will now start. Till now the spotlight has been on Serena. The spotlight goes out and Serena closes her eyes while taking a deep breath.

Suddenly, one by one, the lights come on, making Serena and her three Pokemon visible in the centre of the arena. Till now Serena's eyes have been closed but there is a calm radiant smile on her face.

https://youtu.be/40ET8Ewamx0

The music starts and Serena also starts tapping her foot with the beat. She opens her sparkling azure eyes and shouts "Let's go."

On hearing the command all three Pokemon begin to jump. Everyone watches as they see the Pokemon doing all sorts of complex acrobatics while not displaying a single flaw in their manoeuvres.

"Braixen, use Fire Blast and Sylveon, use Swift. Pancham you know what to do," Serena dances along with her Pokemon elegantly.

The Fire Blast and Swift attacks collide, mid-air, releasing red and golden sparkles. Everyone watches as the sparkles gently shower down on Serena who's elegantly spinning and smiling with the beat. Pancham lets out a cry of excitement as he jumps high into the sky. 

"Cham," it cries as it lands on the ground. Instantly, Stone Edge pillars form around Serena which upon completion represent a shiny blue Volcano.

"Alright then. Braixen and Sylveon go. Pancham, come here," Serena orders as Braixen and Sylveon both jump onto one of the Stone Edge blue pillars.

Braixen hops inside the stone edge volcano while Sylveon jumps into the sky and uses Fairy Wind facing downwards. With her jolly Pancham in her arms, they both start floating in the air due to Sylveon's Fairy Wind.

(In the VIP Box)

Ash is sitting in silence as he watches Serena's performance with the utmost amount of concentration he can muster. He softly smiles as he sees Serena spin and dance, away to her heart's content. Her smile, her leap, the way her hair waved in the air, all of them make his heart skip a beat. He sniffs for a bit as tears of pride swell in his eyes. He wastes no time in wiping away those tears before they can trickle down his elated face. While he's extremely happy for Serena, he can't help but feel a tinge of pain somewhere deep down inside him. The pain of not having achieved success till now. As he sees Serena perform away to her heart's content he curls his fingers, of his right hand, in the form of a fist, resolving himself to achieve his own dream, not just for his but Serena's sake as well.

"That's incredible! What level of coordination who's not a Pokemon trainer. The combinations complement each other perfectly!" Brandon remarks in amazement, not believing that a Pokemon performer could pull off such perfect co-ordination.

"Indeed! These Pokemon performances certainly surpass my expectations! I have seen Contests before but these," Scott says before turning to Diantha, "are even better. Much more enjoyable. I am impressed," he agrees, much to Diantha and Palermo's delight.

"First class combinations! Just my kind of tactics," Tucker says to Ash before winking.

"Of course. She is my girlfriend Tucker," Ash says with pride swelling inside his slightly inflated chest.

"You are one lucky kid. Do yourself a favour. Don't let her go," Tucker says while giving Ash a wink.

"You bet. I won't give her up in a million year," Ash says while giving Tucker a thumbs up in reply.

"For now let us go back to watching the performance, shall we?" he says to everyone's agreement.

(Back in the Arena)

Serena and Pancham are softly swaying with the wind as they float mid-air. Braixen is hidden away from sight, inside the Stone Edge pillars. Sylveon lets out a small cry as it flies on top of Serena and Pancham.

"Alright. Braixen, use Will-O-Wisp and Sylveon keep on using Fairy wind," Serena shouts as she waltzes, mid-air, with Pancham.

Soon the audience is treated to a sight of a live Volcano with purplish flames erupting. Everyone's eyes glow in amazement at the hypnotizing spectacle. All the girls are ecstatic at the display while all the boys are drooling at Serena's sight.

Finally, Serena lands on the platform before saying, "Alright let's wrap it up. Sylveon and Braixen you know what to do," 

Sylveon and Braixen jump from the ground and land on top of two diametrically opposite Stone Edge pillar. From there they jump to another Stone Edge pillar, causing the previous pillar to vanish with blue sparkles. They keep jumping in a circular fashion, as all the pillars disappear, one by one, in their trail.

"Now Braixen, use Fire Blast, Sylveon use Swift and Pancham wrap it up with Dark Pulse," Serena orders as she crosses her arms, in the form of an X, in front of her chest. 

The moment she breaks her arms apart all three Pokemon launch their attacks. The attacks collide, creating a revolving circular disk. There is an inner circle of fire with a golden star inside its circumference following which there is an outer ring of Pancham's dark pulse.

Serena and all three of her Pokemon come together for the ending. They freeze together in their last characteristic pose before she shouts, "And we are all done!" 

The very next moment, the revolving circular disk floating above them, explodes. A wondrous gasp echoes throughout the audience as they see their Kalos Queen and her Pokemon being showered with red, yellow and black sparkles. The entire stadium erupts with deafening applause. In the VIP Box, everyone claps and cheers as well. Ash, Grace, Palermo and Professor Oak are beyond ecstatic as they clap as hard as their hands permit them to clap.

(In the Stands)

"Wow! That was great!" Dawn says as she joins the others in giving Serena a standing ovation.

"Yeah! Smooth," Gary says as he claps very hard too.

"Classy," Brock remarks with a broad smile on his face.

While everyone is giving the Kalos Queen their standing ovation, there is one person who's calmly seated in his seat with his arms folded and his face adorning a serious expression. Everyone sits down as they see Serena and her Pokemon give a bow while getting lowered into the stage by the elevator platform, which brought them up in the first place. 

"I noticed that you didn't applaud her performance?" A boys remarks, who retakes his seat next to the seated man.

"Tell me. What is a Kalos Queen? A title of some sorts?" the man enquires while turning to the boy.

The boy stares back at the man with stunned silence. His eyes blink rapidly, refusing to believe what his ears are hearing. He then breaks into a hysterical fit of laughter.

"You sure know how to joke well. Very amusing, not knowing what the top performer in the showcases is called," the boy laughs as he wipes away his tears of laughter.

"Top Performer? Interesting," the man remarks as his mind flashes back to Santalune City where he had seen the girl with the clumsy trainer who called himself as Ash Ketchum.

"You did know what Top Performer means? Don't you?" the boy asks in a little afraid tone.

"Yes, I did. I was just messing with you. Figured, you could use a laugh or two," the man quickly replies.

"Oh! Well, thank you! It was nice to laugh like that," the boy replies while smiling.

"Well turn your attention back to the stadium now. It seems the next event is about to get started," the man replies causing the boy to turn to the stadium where the announcer has come to the centre once more.

"So KIP? Did you enjoy that?" the announcer shouts as the crowd erupts in cheer in agreement. 

As the announcer nods in agreement with the crowd, the mechanical covering of the stadium gets retracted and sunlight reilluminates the temporarily darkened arena.

"Now, that we have enjoyed that lovely performance by our very own Kalos Queen, it is now time to get some serious adrenaline pumping. Don't you agree, KIP?" The announcer asks as the crowd cheers in agreement. "So today, we have, for your eyes alone. Not one but two exhibition battles. Are you ready to see who will be fighting in these battles? Ready to see whether the participating trainer can only talk the big talk or can they walk the big walk too?" The announcer says as several people whistle loudly.

(In the VIP Box)

"My, my. That was some performance!" Scott says with a beaming smile.

"Glad to see you liked what you saw," Palermo answer with an equal smile.

"Indeed, I must say these Performances have a lot of scope and potential in them. A shame they are only restricted to the Kalos Region for the moment," Scott remarks with a small inaudible sigh.

"I know. I and my organization are working very hard to expand them to other regions as well," Palermo acknowledges Scott's words.

"Well, good to know that. Such art and beauty should not be kept locked away in one region." Scott says before turning to Palermo, "If I can help in any way, don't hesitate to ask."

"I am glad you brought up the subject of help. I have an idea, one that might work to our mutual benefit and advantage," Palermo says in a serious tone.

"Really? What idea do you have?" Scott asks Palermo, a sense of intrigue rising in his body like the sunrise.

"Diantha told me that each Frontier Brain runs his own Frontier Facility. Furthermore, each facility specializes in something or the other. Is that true?" Palermo questions.

"Correct. Why do you ask?" he answers.

"Well, if that is the case. I could have a few of my select potential performers go with you and open a Frontier Facility with a speciality in Pokemon Performances. This way we can sow the seeds of Pokemon performances through your esteemed Battle Frontier system in other regions," Palermo suggest.

"Hmmm," Scott hums, giving the idea a round of thorough deliberation.

"Interesting idea. What would we call such a facility?" Scott asks after turning to face Palermo, once more.

Palermo gets taken aback by Scott's question, not having prepared for this eventuality. She starts panicking internally, knowing the smallest of inconveniences and missteps can cause this important proposal to go sideways.

Ash, sensing Palermo's dilemma, speaks up, "Why not call it the Battle Theater? Since performances are done on a theatre-like stage, so Battle Theater should be perfect."

"That will be perfect, young man!" Palermo says while giving Ash a beaming smile.

Then she turns to Scott, give him a questioning look and says, "Well?"

"I like that name. Has a nice ring to it and very elegant representation of the proposed frontier facility's purpose," Scott says while giving Ash an approving thumbs up.

"Well, we can sort the remaining business details later. For now, let us enjoy the occasion. Shall we?" Palermo asks while picking up a glass of champagne.

"Of course. Who am I to refuse such a gracious offer?" Scott says, helping himself to a glass as well.

Palermo turns to Ash and mouths a quiet "Thank you," while handing him a glass as well.

Ash smiles as he accepts her glass and gives Palermo a broad smile to which she nods.

(Back in the Battlefield)

"Alright KIP. Time has come to get down to the first battle. First, we shall have a three on three exhibition battle between our very own, Champion Diantha and the Battle Pyramid King Brandon!" the Announcer says as both trainers take their respective positions.

The announcer then takes his leave as the referee arrives with both opponents facing each other.

"Alright, this a three on three exhibition battle. No substitutions. The battle will be over when either side has lost all three Pokemon. Are you both ready?" Referee says as both Brandon and Diantha nod.