Hey all! I had this idea while I was watching "Party Dancecapades" again. Hope all you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

"Oh my gosh! I love this one!"

Miette grabbed another dress from off its hanger and placed it on the rapidly growing pile. There were already about six or seven dresses of different colours stacked on top of each other, all of which were being carried by an ever-tiring Ash Ketchum.

"Another one? Isn't this enough? Can't you at least try a few on first?" he begged, trying as hard as he could to stop his voice from turning whiny.

All the excitement that he had initially felt after Miette had asked him to Pierre's dance party had already faded in less than an hour. He had been to parties like this one before, but never with a date, and was really eager to try something new, especially with someone as friendly as Miette. After all, the last thing he wanted was to be left out of a super fun party while Serena and Clemont were enjoying themselves. But all his "date" seemed to be interested in was treating him like her personal assistant. Was this what he was supposed to do? Now that he thought about it, he had seen quite a few shows and movies on TV where a girl would drag their boyfriend or husband around the shops, while they seemed to be less than happy about it. Maybe this was normal? Either way, he was not enjoying his current predicament.

'Note to self,' he thought. 'Next time you agree to do something, make sure you know what you've got to do first,'

"This one! And this one too!" Miette cried, clearly taking no heed of Ash's words. "Ah! Those too!" she cried, before running off to the other side of the parlour.

"You want to try on more?" Ash said, failing to prevent himself from whining this time as he ran to try and keep up with her. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Serena's red jacket. He turned to see her staring in the mirror while holding a red dress up to her body. He had to admit, looking at her reflection, he thought it really suited her. Though, if he was being honest with himself, he hadn't ever seen her in clothes that he thought didn't. As if on cue, she caught sight of him in the mirror and turned to look at him. Suddenly, Ash got an idea. Serena always seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff. Maybe she could give him some advice?

He looked straight into her clear, blue eyes and silently mouthed "HELP ME!" making sure to stretch his lips as far as possible so she got the message. Unfortunately for him, she seemed to be too lost in thought to even notice him. He groaned silently, before turning back to face Miette. There was no doubt about it - he was well and truly stuck.

The lights were dimmed and the orchestra continued to play as Pierre and Aria danced together under the spotlight, Aria's Delphox and Pierre's Klefki dancing next to them. They moved with such grace and beauty that almost the entire crowd was utterly captivated. However, the two boys standing by one of the tables had something very different on their minds.

"The party's barely started and I'm already exhausted," Ash whispered to Clemont, so as not to be heard over the orchestra. He began to tug at the ruffles around the neck of his deep blue suit. "Man, I hate this thing. Couldn't Miette have picked me something more comfortable?"

"Well, we are supposed to look proper," said Clemont, wearing a suit identical to Ash's, only green. "But I agree. Who knew a dance party would be more difficult that science? I'd rather have fifty inventions blow up in my face than have to go through this again. And Bonnie is definitely not helping!" He hissed that last part a bit louder, as he spotted his little sister, who was wearing a small, gold and orange dress, tugging the dress of a pretty, young girl, and he had a good idea of what was going on. She paid him no notice however, as she began whispering into the girl's ear. The Lumiose gym leader sighed, his glasses steaming up from embarrassment. "Well, at least Bunnelby and Eevee are enjoying themselves I suppose," he said, glancing over at the grey rabbit and the brown, fox like creature, both of whom seemed to be watching Aria and Pierre dance with a mesmerised expression on their faces.

"Yeah, definitely. Though I can't say the same for Pikachu," Ash admitted. He glanced to the left to see his best buddy being pulled into an extremely uncomfortable hug by Miette's Slurpuff, the pudgy, pink and white fairy type seemingly oblivious to the strangled expression on the yellow mouse's face. He then turned back to Clemont. "Hey Clemont, can I ask you something? Do you think there's something a little…odd about Miette?" he said. Clemont raised his eyebrows, seemingly confused about what exactly the Kantonian Trainer meant. Ash continued.

"I mean, we've only met a few times, and yet she's always really happy to see me and acts really nice. But today, she seems really different, like she's become a different person. What's going on? Is there something wrong with her?" He ran his hand through his messy, jet black hair, trying his best to come up with some sort of explanation. Clemont stared at the ground, putting a hand to his chin, thinking.

"You're right, that is pretty strange. Like you said, she hardly knows you, so it does seem odd that she's so nice to you. I hypothesise she must be like that with everyone. It's the most logical explanation. But then how do we explain her behaviour today? Something doesn't add up." Clemont screwed up his face, clearly frustrated with his lack of a concrete answer.

"You two are SO DUMB!"

The boys glanced down to see Bonnie glaring at the two of them, her mouth formed into a pout. She looked as if she wanted to smack the two of them senseless.

"Either tell us what you mean by that, or zip it, missy!" Clemont hissed, annoyed by his sister's cryptic language and behaviour. Bonnie just stuck her tongue out at her brother before turning back to watch the dancing foursome.

After a few more seconds, the music stopped, and the crowd applauded, some cheering and whistling with delight. Pierre and Aria bowed, before the showcase host began to speak.

"And now, ze dance floor is open for all of you! Please, have a wonderful time!"

As soon as he finished, Ash saw Miette rush up to him, an excited look on her face

"C'mon! Let's dance!" she cried, taking Ash by the hand. Ash's expression lit up. Dancing? That didn't sound so bad. He'd danced tons of times before and had always had a blast.

"Yeah, OK!" he said, joy returning to his voice for the first time in hours, allowing himself to be dragged by his date to the center of the floor.

A few minutes later, Ash was starting to get really sick of being wrong. It turned out Miette had wanted the two of them to dance together, which, as he was finding out, was a lot harder than it looked. He had to move both of his feet at the same time and pace as Miette, all while keeping his eyes on her face. Needless to say, it wasn't going well. He had tripped over her legs, accidentally stepped on the hem of her dress, and –

SMACK!

Ash gripped his forehead, wincing in pain, Miette following suit. Their heads had made hard contact, and the two of them were clearly feeling the impact.

"Ugh, sorry about that," Ash groaned, grinning innocently. Miette stared at him, a much more irritated expression on her face.

"Wow Ash, you sure have a hard head," she sighed. Ash laughed nervously, while scratching the back of his head. "Oh well," she shrugged, trying her hardest to hide her disappointment. Suddenly, the two of them heard Pierre's voice ringing across the room.

"Alright, everyone form into circles," he said. "It's time to change partners. Zen, let's dance!"

'Change partners?' Ash thought. 'Well, it's probably best me and Miette get a little bit of space.'

After dancing with an orange haired girl in a green dress, only slightly less clumsily that he had with his actual date, he felt a particularly soft hand take his. He looked up, and saw a beautiful young lady with long, red hair smiling at him.

"Aria?" he asked.

"Don't worry Ash, dancing's not hard," she reassured him. "It's easy, once you get the hang of it,"

"Uh, OK," he said, his voice still a little doubtful. Had she even seen him and the other two girls? The two of them began to move together, Aria slowing down, allowing Ash to find his rhythm. Then, as if by some miracle, his movements seemed to become much more natural and controlled. Not perfect, by any means, but at least the two of them weren't butting heads. He looked at Aria, who beamed at him, giggling softly.

"Aria?" he asked, after a couple of minutes, an apprehensive tone in his voice. "This…isn't what…dating is like, is it?" He felt kind of weird discussing this sort of thing with anyone, let alone the Kalos Queen, but he at least figured her of all people would be able to give him a good answer. "I mean, it's been a…tough day for me so far. Is it always this much of a headache?" Aria laughed.

"Depends on who you're dating," she responded, simply. "Sometimes it's a drag, but it can also the best time of your life, as long as you're with the right person." Ash frowned.

"The right person? But, how do I know who the right person is?"

"That's not something you know straight away, Ash," Aria said, wisely. "You have to figure it out for yourself. Be patient and take your time, and you'll eventually know what kind of person you want to be with. But if I were you." She let go of his hand and glanced over his shoulder, preparing to move onto her next partner. "I'd start with those closest to you." She winked before taking the hand of a tall, blonde boy. Ash quickly followed her gaze and saw Serena, who was dancing with a dark haired boy in a red suit, before turning back to take the hand of his next partner. He didn't quite understand that last bit, but he had a much better grasp on today's events at least. According to Aria, Miette didn't seem like the right girl for him, as she seemed to be making this day a lot less enjoyable for him than he was hoping for it to be. So, if he wanted to find someone to go to parties and stuff like this with, he'd have to be paying attention to when he was really happy, and also who made him happy.

After dancing with about six or seven other girls, Ash felt he was confident enough to at least dance competently, and was determined to give the next girl he danced with the best party of her life. He turned around, and his expression lit up as he saw Serena standing in front of him, a look of surprise on her face. This was perfect! He already knew Serena, and he knew she wouldn't be angry with him if he screwed up! This would make everything way easier! He extended his hand towards the honey blonde girl and smiled at her, his eyes sparkling with the same passion that he always had when he was really looking forward to something. Serena hesitated, before reaching out her hand, an equally happy expression on her face, her eyes glowing like Ash had never seen before.

But just as he stretched his hand out to grab hers, she pulled away and stared at the front of the hall. Ash looked to see what had caught at her attention, and saw the orchestra bowing to the hall, before beginning to pack their instruments away. It was only then he realised that the music had stopped playing, the applause of the dancing performers and their dates replacing it.

'Aw man. And I was finally getting good at this,' he thought. He shook it off quickly, joining in the applause.

"Well, that's it," he said, an accepting tone in his voice. He then turned back to Serena, smiling warmly. "So, Serena, did you have a good time?" His expression fell as he saw her head hanging.

"I…guess I did. Wish I could've danced more," she said, her voice sounding hoarse. Ash took a closer look at her face. Was she…crying?

"Alright, let us begin today's main event. The enchanting tag battle!" Pierre boomed. "Zere are no battles in a Pokémon Showcase, so consider this a special treat!"

Ash's heart leapt! Finally, something he knew he would love! He lifted his card up to the light, as instructed, and saw a faint crown appear on the back. He looked to see Serena had gotten one as well. "Alright, now that's what I'm talking about!" he said. Serena beamed at him, but even through her smile, he noticed that the familiar joyful aura she exuded whenever she was psyched was missing. Was she still upset? A nasty feeling of guilt crept into his head, refusing to leave him alone for the rest of the evening. Even during the tag battle, though it was fun and exhilarating, tapped off with Serena's Eevee evolving into Sylveon, the guilt kept nagging him in the back of his mind. The worst part was, he had a strong feeling he knew why it was there.

Night had fallen across the town, and the four travelling companions were sitting in the foyer of the Pokémon Center, all of them back in their regular clothing. Serena was brushing her newly evolved Sylveon's fur, while Clemont and Bonnie were arguing about Bonnie's "wife hunt" during the dance party. But Ash, rather unlike himself, unless it was after he lost a battle, was sitting motionless, with seemingly nothing to say. After a few more minutes, he got up and turned towards the stairs.

"OK, I'm going to head to bed guys," he said, before turning to Serena. "Serena," he began. "I'm…really sorry you didn't get to dance more." A comforting smile spread across his face. He then turned to face Clemont and Bonnie. "Night guys, see you all tomorrow," He then headed upstairs, not turning to look back at any of them. He was desperate to be alone and get a chance to think more clearly about the day he had just had. After he had disappeared to his room, Clemont got up as well.

"Yeah, we'd probably better head up too. It's way past your bedtime Bonnie," he remarked.

"What? No way! I haven't even gotten to brush Sylveon yet!" Bonnie protested, before she and Clemont got into another argument.

Serena wasn't paying any attention to the siblings' bickering however. She was thinking about the evening she had had, and what Ash had just said to her. She had tried her hardest to show that she wasn't upset. She had tried to make out that she had genuinely enjoyed herself, and in fairness, she had. But above all that, the fact that she was mere seconds away from getting to dance with the boy she cared about more than anyone in the world was tearing her up inside. She knew full well she was likely never going to get an opportunity like that again, especially with very little of their journey left. Though, when she heard Ash's comforting words, her heart couldn't help but do a little backflip. His kindness was just so infectious. Whenever she was feeling sad or down about anything, he had the incredible ability to lift her entire spirits, even if it was just a little.

She then decided it wasn't good to dwell on negative distractions like this, and that she had to keep focusing on moving forward, to become Kalos Queen. That was what Ash would want, after all. She returned Sylveon to her Poké Ball, got up quietly and headed up to her room, leaving Clemont and Bonnie to finish their argument alone. But as she passed the boys' room in the corridor, she heard a voice coming from behind the door.

"STUPID ORCHESTRA! COULDN'T YOU WAIT JUST FIVE MORE MINUTES!?"

And there we have it! I'll be honest, I have WAY more fun writing Ash in these stories than I do Serena. It's just so much fun to get into his head. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time, take care!