Pokémon The Queen of Kalos

[CinderArts]

Hello everyone! I am proud to present my rewrite of my 2020 fic inspired by the film "The Illusionist! (2010)" It's been a while since I wrote fanfics, so please bear with me and my shortcomings if you see any! Without further ado, have a happy reading and feel free to leave a review!

Content Warning: Mention of Tobacco.​

Kalos, 2007

On the stage set of Plaza Theater, a small crowd composed of middle-aged men and women awaited the opening announcement of the stage speaker as they waited for the show to start. A minute had passed and the silence that filled the air had been replaced with the sound of a man tapping his microphone.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, continuing our evening of magic, the Plaza Theater is proud to present The Queen of Kalos!”

The curtains tried to give way for the performer, but they didn't budge. The man tried again, to no avail.

“Ahem, apologies. It seems we have some difficulties. Please, give your warm applause again for The Queen of Kalos!”

The man whispered and signaled the performer hastily as the curtains proved inefficient for the reveal of her introduction. After a few seconds, the performer stepped out. She sported a starry cape, a hat and a wonderful red dress that would leave any Pokemon performer jealous. Serena, who went by the stage name “The Queen of Kalos”, looked at the audience left and right before she took a bow. Serena sighed deeply as she fixed her blue bowtie.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, I, The Queen of Kalos, shall dazzle you with a world of magic!” she announced triumphantly but received only a few claps from the audience. She sighed internally but smiled and kept the show going. She tried to pull out her Pokeball from her belt, but it proved to be problematic as it was slightly stuck. Giving it one last nudge, she managed to pull out her Pokeball, which caused her belt to snap! As she tried her best to regain her composure and placed the belt on her shoulder, she threw up her Pokeball and summoned Braixen.

“Now, Braixen! Use Will-O-Wisp followed by Fire Spin!” she commanded. As Braixen was about to perform her moves, her twig snapped! This earned her trainer an awkward smile as her audience chuckled at her Braixen.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Kalos, 2013

In the same theater, Serena had just finished performing with her Braixen and Pancham to an audience who kept bored looks. Picking up the stuff she pulled out from her hat, Serena went back to her stage room, and placed all the things back she used for tonight’s performance. Sighing, she took out a cigarette from her small cigar case and lit it up.

“What a night…”, she uttered. Taking a drag from her cigarette, she sat down and began to apply powder to her nose to keep the sweat away. “Another night, another performance.”

On the mirror are pictures posted on the side of the glass, containing various memories from her young days as a Pokemon Performer. On the right is her picture of the day she won the title as Queen of Kalos, on the left is an image of her and her old friends. But one picture she kept close was an image of her as a young girl with a young man next to her, she wore a simple white dress and a hat, and the man wore a simple set of clothes adorned with a birthmark in a z-like shape. She sighed, taking another drag from her cigarette as she looked at her younger self in the photo. A few seconds later, Braixen approached her with puppy eyes and flopped down ears.

“Braixen, Brai…”

“Yeah, I got you. It’s okay Braixen. I know it’s not your fault.”

She placed down her cigar on the tray as she took out a piece of macaron from the box, handing it over to Braixen to which she graciously accepted. “Yeah, I know. Not a lot of Pokemon Performers these days would bother performing when they’re not as popular as they used to be.” she told Braixen,

“But it’s better than being homeless, am I right?” She looked at her Braixen with a smile.

“Braixen…” Braixen cooed as she patted Serena’s shoulder.

“I know, Braixen…” she said and sighed as she went back to her daily dose of smoking, which was rudely interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. “One second!” As she took one last drag, Serena opened the door expecting her package, only to be greeted by the manager of the theater.

“Good evening, Serena,” He greeted.

“Good evening, Jack.” Serena greeted in return.

“Listen, Serena… I got news, and well…” Jack said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Just get to the point, Jack. You don’t need to go in circles to tell me.” she said.

Jack sighed as he threw down the cigar and stepped on it. “You’re laid off, Serena. Starting tonight.”

“What? Jack, you can’t do that to me. I’ve worked in this theater ever since I started my career as a Pokemon Performer!” Serena said with a raised voice.

“I know, I know, and I respect that. But the audience, they’re bored of the same tricks and the same performance you’ve been doing for the past few years. Nowadays, people want new entertainment, and- “

Serena interrupted him, “So, this is what it’s all about, huh? You want to replace me with a set of boy bands who barely know a thing or two about entertainment from who knows where?”

“Sadly, you’re right on that one. Look, I appreciate your contributions to this theater, but even you should know when your time is up. Just look at the audience tonight, they’re so bored you could hear the Kricketot’s singing outside! Your ticket sales are barely meeting the minimum chart, and the theater is losing a lot of money trying to promote you! No offense, Serena, but this is business! This is nothing personal!”

“This IS personal to me, Jack! This theater is practically my second home! I grew up performing in this theater even before you became manager!” She shouted.

Jack sighed and took out an envelope from his suit. “Sorry, but this is the best I can do. This is the last salary that I can give. From now on, you’re laid off. I’m so sorry, Serena. But I have to keep the business afloat. Nothing personal, but keeping you in here has cost the theater a lot of money…”

Serena took the envelope and sighed. “You’re not sorry and you know it. You just care about the profits.” She said before she slammed the door shut.

As tears escaped her eyes, she set down the envelope and sat back down, sobbing as she took her cigarette.

I can’t believe this! He’s kicking me out for real! I can’t afford to lose the theater that I grew up in! Yet, even if I fight it, it’s not going to work. Serena thought to herself, only to be disrupted by her Braixen who held her left arm, concerned for her trainer.

“Braixen…”

“Perhaps our time is up. I guess it’s time for us to move on…”

“Brai…”

She patted Braixen’s cheeks and gave her a sad smile. “It’s okay, Braixen… we’ll figure things out like we always do. Never give up until it’s over…”

____________________________________________________________________________________

Two days after she was laid off from the theater, Serena had set off to work at a different theater in the region of Galar. After she was given the offer from a manager her friend referred her to, she packed his belongings and accepted the new manager’s offer. Serena carried only one travel case with the rest of her Pokeballs neatly tucked in. I should get a bigger travel case, she thought to herself. For Serena, Motostoke is a city too big for her, but knowing that this is a big city, it means that she can still make it as a Pokemon performer. Arriving at the Emporium Bay Theater, she adjusted her blue bowtie and entered the theater, only to be greeted by a man who wore a bright yellow suit.

"Ah, hello! You must be Serena!" The man said.

"Yes, that is me. Are you the manager that I spoke to two days ago?" Serena asked.

"Yes, that would be me! My name is Higgins. Come, come! Let's talk in my office." He gestured to follow him. Serena was ushered into the man’s office. His office was decorated with bookshelves stacked with theatrical and movie books, his desk has neatly stacked papers on the surface and an image of himself.

"So, how's your stay in Motostoke City? Grand, I presume?" The manager asked.

"It's alright. I stayed at a cheap hotel for the night." Serena responded. She felt like she could leave a big impression if she lied, but she knew that honesty is always the best option.

"Ah, well it's good to save. You don't know when you'll need them nowadays!"

"Yeah, definitely."

Serena sat down on the chair, making sure that her dress was still clean for impression. "Tea or Coffee?" The manager asked.

"Water would do."

A moment later, the manager went back to the room and gave her a glass of water.

"Okay, so here's the deal. You can perform tonight and if it works well, you can definitely stay here."

"That is great to hear. What time am I set to perform?" Serena asked, starry eyed at the offer.

"Around 10 PM, we have a famous singer performing tonight and the whole theater is sold out for his performance." The manager said.

"That's alright with me. I prefer to perform in the evening. Here's my poster." Serena showed the manager her bright blue poster, with her dressed in her signature white dress.”

"Excellent! I'll have it posted outside for customers to see."

---

It’s five minutes before the show’s over, and Serena patiently waited backstage, donning her performer's outfit. She watched the singer perform from the backstage monitors to try and stave off the boredom of having to wait for five full hours. “He has some talent; I’ll give him that…”

“Braixen, Brai.”

“I know, Braixen. I’m anxious too. But we must perform and nail it today!”

Knowing that his performance would end, she stood up and prepared herself for the magical performance. As the curtains went down, she took two steps before the curtains went up again. She stepped back, surprised that the singer was still performing. "What the? Isn't it 10 PM already?" She asked the lever boy.

The lever boy responded, "The singer requested an extra hour before he started. Sorry pal."

She sighed, frustrated that she lost an hour's worth of performance. But there was no helping it, she kept her cool and sat back down, waiting for her turn.

“Brai…?”

“It’s… it’s okay braixen. We just must wait patiently…”

An hour passed, Serena dusted off her outfit and prepared herself to step in once the curtains went down. She hoped that there wouldn’t be another hour lost to a singer again. As soon as the curtains went down, the singer walked backstage, with a grin on his face.

"The girls loved my performance, so much so that they're begging me to do an encore! Haha!" He then looked at Serena "Sorry about that old timer, the girl's needed an extra hour of my lovely voice."

Serena simply replied, "It's alright." Yet deep inside, she could feel the rage building up inside of her, like a swelled-up volcano. Still, she kept her cool and decided that fighting him was not worth the effort. As soon as the singer was out of sight, she stepped onto the stage and summoned Pancham out of her Pokeball, with Braixen in tow.

“Pancham!” He exclaimed.

“Heh, are you ready Pancham?” she asked and received a grin as a reply from the small Pokemon.

As the curtain went up, she was surprised to see that all the audience had disappeared. The only ones that remain would be an old lady, and her two grandsons.

Outside, a wave of fangirls fawned over the singer, blocked by police to prevent them from stampeding over the local celebrity. Some even fought over a poster that he gave to a girl.

Nevertheless, she pushed on and went on to perform.

“Now, Braixen! Use Will-O-Wisp and form a circle!” She commanded as a set of wisps formed in front of her. She clapped her hands to give Pancham the signal, and he jumped right through it without skipping a beat. No applause came from the two young boys, except for the grandmother who smiled at him. Tough crowd.

The next day, she took her poster down from the theater's display box, as she looked onward to find another place to perform at.

“Braixen…”

“Pancham, Pan…”

Serena sighed. Her performance was a bust and she can’t help but feel guilty for making her Pokemon feel like it’s their fault.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s not your fault that we failed.” She said as she gave them a pair of Macarons. “Tell you what, how about we go find ourselves another theater and try our best? Is that good?”

“Braixen!” She nodded along with Pancham, eager to lift their trainer’s spirit.

“Then it’s settled! We’ll keep on performing until we find a theater that can accept us!” she triumphantly declared, with a set of words lingering in her mind as she made the declaration.

Never give up until it’s over.

 

[CinderArts]

Content Warning: Mentions of Tobacco and Alcohol.​

Disappointed at the lack of viewers in the last theater, Serena and her companions had set out to perform at a formal party in the outskirts of Motostoke City, to which they easily accepted her application which gave Serena some suspicion. Nevertheless, she got paid upfront so Serena was set to perform even if no one would pay attention to her

Serena thought about retiring after this, using what's left of her money to start a small farm in the green fields of Kalos. The more she performed, the more she failed to captivate the younger audiences of the modern world due to newer and growing forms of entertainment that kept on getting in her way.

Serena pondered on how to captivate younger audiences for a long time but gave up after her decline as a Pokemon Performer. Gone are the days where even a simple coin trick could gain loud applause from young kids and teenagers. Serena wished she could go back to those days, to be able to perform without being brushed aside by some pop singer or a group of boy bands who could attract the attention of young people by strumming a single note from a guitar.

Serena stood by the balcony of her hotel room, she watched the nightlights of the city as she smoked, pondering on the thoughts she would always think about after a failed performance. The city’s beautiful night lights, combined with the beautiful twinkling starry skies reminded Serena of her days as a young performer, with only a penny to her name and a set of dresses her mother had given her.

From there, she would go on to perform magical feats with her companions, from a simple coin trick to her Braixen and Pancham’s trademark Will-O-Wisp trick. The audience loved her, but nowadays, the modern audience yearns for something more than an old, faded, and washed-out performer. She wondered if there's someone out there who still believes in the magic that performers like her would bring to the table.

“Braixen…?”

She turned around to face Braixen, flicking away her cigarette. “Hey, Braixen. You can’t sleep?” Braixen nodded.

“What’s wrong, Braixen?” she asked as she caressed her cheek.

“Braixen, Brai…” She pointed her finger at Serena with worried eyes. “Braixen…”

“Are you worried about me?” she sighed. This is the last thing she wanted, to make her companions feel worried about her. “I’m okay. It’s just… it’s been a rough few days, is all.”

“Brai…?”

“Yes, Braixen. Trust me. Everything is okay, I promise.” Serena said as she embraced her companion, wanting to assure the fire-type that she’ll be alright.

Her days are rough, but she will make it work like she always used to.

_____________________________________________​

The party on the outskirts of Motostoke City had kicked off, wealthy elites mingled and drank wine as they watched, a local opera singer sang her heart out as she performed a classic song called "the Kalosian waltz". She sang with a fierce but soft tone.

The audience clearly loved to see her perform judging from the number of people watching. Serena and Braixen waited from the back, wearing her usual performer's outfit. For today, she wished that people would pay attention to them just as they were paying attention right now to the opera singer. She watched from the back as they both waited for their cue to perform.

I wish I could captivate an audience like that, she thought to herself.

As the opera singer finally finished performing, the audience clapped as she gave a bow and headed backstage, the band then began to play her tune, giving them their cue. She straightened her blue bowtie and walked out from the back and into the front of the audience.

But as soon as she began performing, the audience began talking to each other, sipping wine as they chatted about their day. She felt dismayed that even the older audiences weren’t paying attention to her, but regardless, she went on to perform.

“Braixen! Use Will-O-Wisp followed by Fire Spin!” She commanded, and Braixen gracefully performed her signature move with grace and dazzling magic. Yet, it failed to captivate her audience who were busier chatting about their wealth. One person behind her clapped in a drunken manner.

“Alright Braixen, now’s our chance! Use Will-O-Wisp again, this time followed by Light Screen!” Braixen summoned the same set of wisps and formed them into a circle, then she summoned a set of light screens which made the wisps shine brighter than an Ember’s flame. Once again, her audience did not pay any attention to her.

Keep your cool, Serena. Just keep on performing… She thought to herself as she called out her Pancham onto the scene.

“Alright, now for the best part! Braixen, use Will-O-Wisp and form a circle!” She commanded as usual and clapped her hands a few seconds later as Pancham jumped through the circle of wisps with style and grace. Yet again, no one applauded her. The same drunk person clapped and approached him drunkenly.

"Aye, you're a good performer, I tell ya!” He complimented Serena as he pulled out a card from his pocket. “Here, take one of my calling cards. I-I know a group of people who would want to see you perform." The man gave Serena his calling card, to which she accepted and hid it in her pocket. The man then tried to walk away, only to trip and crash on one of the tables. "Sorry! Sorry…”

Serena and her companions then used the distraction to walk away from the audience along with her belongings.

_____________________________________________​

For the next three days, Serena traveled by boat to The Isle of Armor after she called up the man that offered her his calling card. She brought with her a few days’ worth of clothes and money from her previous performances. The trip went from sunny to cloudy and then cloudy with a mix of rain.

The Isle of Armor, to her, is the perfect place to retire as it is known for its lush green fields and sandy shores. From what she could read from the pamphlet that he brought with her; The Isle of Armor is a developing rural town that has a total population of 2,000. Most of the town has yet to obtain electricity, while some parts have running power with lights on their homes. Reading this information gave her the idea for their next performance.

“Pancham, pan…?” Pancham asked as he tugged at her coat.

“What’s wrong, Pancham?” Serena inquired. Pancham simply rubbed his stomach, indicating the obvious. Not surprising.

“Heh, feeling hungry already, Pancham?” She asked and Pancham nodded in reply.

“But you just ate an hour ago… oh well.” Serena gingerly took out a piece of Macaron from her case and handed it over. “Here you go, but this is the last one for now, okay?”

With the boat arriving at her destination, she was greeted with rainy clouds and a small fishing village. Seeing the small village reminded Serena of her own small town she lived in when she was a young kid. Smiling, she stepped down from the boat and waited for the man to pick her up. While waiting, she and Pancham tried one of The Isle of Armor’s local delicacies.

Soon, the drunk man arrived in a ragged looking car. He honked for her attention and waved at her as Serena turned to look in his direction. Serena smiled at the man, knowing that his enthusiasm was genuine.

As soon as they left the fishing village, Serena and the man conversed about several topics, like the history of The Isle of Armor and its wonderful natural sights as they traveled to their destination. There were times that the two had to stop by to refuel or to try and get the tires off from the wet mud. Serena didn't mind helping the man even if she and her Pancham got dirty, knowing that the town they're going to has running water and a bar of soap to deal with the dirt and muck that the ground could offer.

Hours had passed from driving after overcoming simple obstacles, Serena and the man finally arrived at the small town. There was not much to see other than the simple food stalls, houses, small stores, and the usual sight of young kids playing around the small town. The man led Serena to the town's local tavern, where she met the bartender in charge.

"Ah, hello. You must be the performer Liam talked about the other night. The name's Barry." He shook Serena’s hand. “Aww, who’s the little fella?” He ruffled Pancham’s fur, with Pancham taking in the delightful feeling.

"Yes, that would be me. I am Serena, this is my Pancham, and I have accepted your friend's offer to perform in your local town. As such, I have brought my poster with me to promote my image should the need for another performance arrive." She then pulled out his poster from the tube and showed it to the bartender.

"Ah, that is lovely. I know just where to put it..." he took the poster and placed it on the large dartboard, placing darts on the corners to make it stick. "Easy as pie. Your room is on the first right, then turn on the first left. It's not hard to miss it."

"Thank you very much, sir. I'll prepare for tonight's performance." She shook his hand in return and went to her assigned room.

"Gloria, take care of the tables for me, would you kindly?"

"Sure thing!" The young girl stopped cleaning the floor to fix the chairs and tables, but her attention was caught by the poster of Serena donning her performer’s outfit. "The Queen of Kalos...?" Gloria looked at the poster for a few more seconds, before turning her attention back to the chairs and tables.

“Ugh, what a day.” Serena said as she plopped down on the bed, with Pancham following suit. She wondered if this opportunity was her next big break. The last time she had a big break like this was two years ago when she performed in Lumiose City. She hoped that this time, it would spark the dying flame within her as a performer.

“Pancham…”

“I know, Pancham. But we must give our best, no matter what.” She declared as Serena raised her fist in the air. “I know it’s what he would’ve wanted…”

“Pan…?”

“Mhm. I’m sure Ash is proud of us. Wherever he is now…

_____________________________________________​

The day had passed, and the tavern was then filled with patrons of the small village, young and old, drinking, and dancing to their heart's content. The audience clapped in tune with the bagpipes. All the while, Gloria helped the bartender by serving alcoholic drinks to the older patrons of the tavern. For the young, orphaned girl, she spent most of her life studying and doing work for the bartender in exchange for money and a room to sleep in. Gloria loved to serve drinks and food to the locals, but she yearned for more.

She yearned to travel to the outside world, to the bustling cities of Galar and other regions she had read from the magazines she had bought with her own money. As a growing up girl soon to be in her late teens, Gloria learned that these cities have electricity and luxuries such as perfume, diamond earrings and more. She dreamt of owning such luxuries one day.

After the people had finished dancing, the drunk man whistled for their attention and signaled the bartender to turn off the lamps, while he gingerly attached a lightbulb above him. As soon as the lamps were turned off, he pushed the button and the light turned on. The entire audience clapped, as he turned it off and on once more, earning more praise from the audience.

"Now, settle down everyone! We have a special guest for tonight! She is a famous Pokemon Performer from the city that I lived in for a while, so let's give our applause to The Queen of Kalos!" He stepped aside to give way for Serena, as she stepped inside with her Braixen and Pancham. The audience clapped as she stepped in, which surprised Serena before bowing to the audience.

“Thank you for your warm applause! I, the Queen of Kalos, shall dazzle you tonight with a magical show!” She triumphantly declared.

Now Braixen! Use Will-o-Wisp followed by Light Screen!” Serena commanded, and Braixen conjured up a set of wisps dazzled by a set of light screens. Pancham then hopped up from Braixen’s back and used Mach Punch to break the screens, causing the flames to disappear gracefully. The patrons cheered and whistled at the display.

Gloria watched in awe, amazed at Serena’s first performance. She rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming, only to see that what he just did was all real. "Wow, she’s amazing!" she thought to herself. Gloria sat down on the front seat to get a clear view of Serena and her performance. The young girl was captivated as she watched Serena perform with her Pokemon.

Serena whistled for Pancham to hop onto her shoulder and commanded him to use Mach Punch again, this time against a set of fiery circles. Smooth as butter, Pancham punched right through the embers with ease and remained unharmed.

An hour had passed, Serena finished her performance with their signature move.

“Let’s end it with a Will-o-Wisp, formed into a circle!” She told her Braixen, to which she gracefully formed the wisps. She clapped her hands and Pancham, who was at the opposite end of the tavern, ran up to the wisps and jumped through the circle without a single burn.

The audience cheered as she and her Pokemon bowed before recalling them back to their Pokeballs. As she stepped into the hallway, she stopped for a while and looked back at the cheering audience, before walking back to his room, a smile formed on her lips. She felt appreciated by the locals, and that warmed Serena’s heart.

As soon as his performance ended, the drunk man came back to the room with a small battery-operated boombox, and the patrons watched in curiosity. As he turned it on, a wave of old rock and roll music had hit their ears, with the man dancing wildly and the people cheered him on.

Meanwhile, Gloria went upstairs to mop the floor, only to see that one room had a light on. She realized that the performer's room was right in front of her, so she continued to mop the floor earnestly until her right foot accidentally kicked down the bucket. "Dang it!" She tried to reach for it, only for Serena to take the small bar of soap while she was in the middle of doing her make-up with her Braixen.

"Is this yours?" The performer asked. Gloria nodded.

Serena then covered the small bar of soap with a handkerchief, with the small bar now turned into a large bar of soap by taking off the napkin. She gasped and looked at the bar of soap.

"Wow! Thanks, Ma’am." She took the bar of soap and smiled. "Are there any clothes that I could wash for you tonight?"

Serena nodded and gave Gloria her dirty clothes. She took out a dollar from her hair and gave it to her as a tip, to which she accepted and pocketed it.

"I'll do my best to get rid of the dirt off the clothes." Gloria took the bucket and placed the dirty clothes and bar of soap in it, and walked down the stairs, but not before giving Serena a smile.

At the other end of the room was a young boy who witnessed everything. Thinking that the performer was a miracle maker, he took his broken Mareep toy and approached Serena.

“U-um, miss…? Can you please make Ms. Mareep all better…?” The young boy showed the broken toy from the palm of his hands. Serena hummed and gave the young lad a warm smile.

“Of course. Just give me one moment.” She took the broken toy and used some of the glue she had left in her suitcase to piece the broken head back onto its neck again. She carefully huffed and puffed, until the glue dried up. “Here you go, good as new.” Serena said as she handed the newly fixed toy back to the young boy.

“Oh, wow! Thank you, miss! Mr. Mareep is going to be happy now that she’s all well!” He remarked which caused Serena and her Braixen to giggle lightly.

“Well, you better take loving care of Ms. Mareep from now on, okay? Now then, go back to bed and get a good night’s rest.” She said to the boy, and he nodded before he went back to his room.

“Whew, what a night.” She remarked as she finished applying powder on her nose.

“Braixen?”

“Heh, I’m okay Braixen. I’m just… I don’t know what to say. I guess I’m happy that not all our performances are a bust. For once, we got ourselves a small break.”

“Braixen, Brai…”

She patted Braixen on the head, before she headed back to her bed. “We just have to keep on trying, no matter what. Never give up until it’s over, right?”

Braixen nodded at the young girl’s newfound determination. “Braixen!”

“That’s the spirit. Now come on, let’s go to bed.”

_____________________________________________​

The next day, after walking on the beach with the drunk man, she went back up to her room only to find her clothes cleaned and dried. She checked the clothes for any leftover dirt, only to be disturbed by Gloria who shyly entered the room with a basket of dry socks.

"I did my best to clean your clothes, it was a bit hard to remove the stains, but it wasn't a challenge for me." she said meekly.

Serena approached the young girl and gave her a dollar from her wallet to which Gloria smiled.

She noticed the other dirty clothes and went on to grab them.

"Oh, no no no, that's alright I uh-" Serena tried to tell gloria that it's all right, but the girl has her clothes now for cleaning

“I guess it’s okay. Just please be careful with them, okay?” She asked.

“Yes, Ma’am! I’ll do my best.” Gloria happily exclaimed.

As she tried to exit the room, she almost tripped over when the sole of her right boot broke loose. She looked at her now broken shoe and back to Serena, with an awkward smile. "It's alright, I can always fix it again," she said, before stepping out of the room.

“What a nice girl… she reminds me of my mother.” Serena happily remarked.

After she was paid by the bartender for her performance, Serena and Braixen went for a walk around the small town to look for anything he could bring home with them. She considered buying the delicacies again but instead went for candies for her Pokemon.

“Braixen, Brai.” Braixen remarked.

“I know, Braixen. But we must try and save our money for something that we might need on our next journey. Don’t worry, though. After this, I’ll make some Macarons for us! What do you say?

“Braixen!” she happily exclaimed.

“Heh. I’m sure Pancham would love that, too.”

As she was about to head back to the tavern, they came across a small clothing store that showed off a pair of blue shoes in the display window. She remembered that the young girl who washed her clothes had a terrible broken pair of shoes. Serena lit up a cigarette and smoked for a while, and then made her decision afterwards.

She entered the store and purchased the pair of blue shoes as a parting gift for the young girl.

Meanwhile, in the Tavern, Gloria entered the room to deliver the now clean clothes for the honey-blonde performer, only to find the occupant in the room was her Pancham who was asleep on the bed. Placing down the basket of clothes, she noticed from the window that snow had begun to fall, and she felt the cold creeping in her body. Placing three pieces of charcoal in the fireplace, she lit it up and made herself comfortable, sitting by the chair to wait for Serena and to hand over the clean clothes.

An hour had passed, Serena came back with snow on his shoulders. She smiled when she noticed Gloria sitting on the chair.

"Hello, young girl." she greeted, “Are you comfortable?”

"Oh! Ms. Serena! I didn't notice you just arrived!" she said, immediately standing up and brushing aside the stray strand of hair. "I uh, was waiting for you, ma’am. Your clothes have been cleaned and dried." she smiled lightly.

"Thank you. Sit down for a moment, I have something to show you." She hid the small box of shoes with her napkin and showed it to her, before pulling off the napkin to reveal the pair of blue shoes. "It's for you."

Gloria’s eyes lit up, in front of her was a pair of brand-new blue shoes, and all for her. She was convinced that this came from her “performance magic”. "Wow… thanks so much, Ms. Serena!"

"You can call me Serena. What's your name, young lady?" she asked.

“Gloria” she said, “My name is Gloria.”

"Well, Gloria, I can't help but notice that your old shoes are ragged and broken. So here, I got you a pair of shoes for you, so you won't trip over again."

"Thank you, Serena." She took the shoes and put them on her feet, which was a perfect fit. She smiled lightly as the new feel of the shoes welcomed her feet with comfort and heat.

"You're welcome, Gloria. Now go on, I must pack up my belongings for tomorrow."

She frowned at what he said. To see the great performer and her Pokemon leave would mean her world would be boring again. Nevertheless, she left the room and gave her some time packing up.

Yet, she decided in her mind that she would follow Serena and live a life full of color and magic with her. She didn’t want to let the opportunity pass. For someone who can conjure a set of shoes and a bar of soap, she genuinely believed that her dream of living in the bigger outside world was about to be fulfilled with the majestic performer.