Author's Notes:
Good morning everyone, and welcome to chapter 78 of Alpha and Omega. Most of you probably haven't noticed, but my motivation to work on this story is tanking again. As we are approaching the Team Rocket arc my hopes are that I will have fun writing the chapters that I've been planning in my head since this story began, and my motivation will be restored. However if that does not happen, after the Team Rocket arc I'll take a break and hopefully find the energy and motivation to finish.

Part of my issue may be that I took on a new fandom, as seen by my latest project "Summer Break". I had been debating writing that for a while now, but like always, I eventually got too excited and began writing. For now my plan is to try and maintain both, but we'll see what happens.

Thank you all for listening, but before your reward one last thing. If you like my work please vote, feel free to comment, and please share this story with your friends. I now present to you chapter 78, enjoy.

BOOM!

There was a huge explosion in the sky and sparkles rained down on Serena, Miette, Shauna, and their Pokémon as they wrapped up their final practice before the Torrent Master Class tomorrow. They were all breathing heavily as this was a very hard routine, but they felt they had managed to pull it off without a hitch. Although it didn't matter what they felt, M was the one that would decide if it was satisfactory or not. Normally they would run through the routine three or four times before they were done practicing for the day, and usually M would want to make some small changes to make it look better after the second or third run. True to what they were told, he was truly gifted at working out performances, as he came up with the routine after their first practice, which was just them showing off their Pokémon's moves. After that the first run was probably good enough to be serious competition at a showcase, although M wasn't satisfied and made some changes. Now after nearly a week and changes every day, this was hopefully the final product.

They all waited patiently, yet anxious for M's reaction, although Miette was the most anxious of all. Everyone was getting a little frustrated with changes being made every single day, especially being this close to the Master Class. But they all kept their composure, except for Scizor who looked almost ready to charge at M any moment. His movements were always precise and flawless the first time, so he wasn't pleased to be constantly making changes. Yesterday it had gotten to the point that he almost did take a shot at M. And if not for Meloetta and Ivysaur, he probably would have, as the two quickly restrained Scizor before he got too close. It wasn't really M's fault they kept making changes. Having this many performers and Pokémon on stage made it very tricky to make a good show as it was always teetering between beauty and chaos, and the changes were needed to keep it closer to beauty.

Finally a big smile was seen on M's face. "Perfection."

Everyone gave a sigh of relief at this point, as there was only two hours to get ready for the dance party, and the girls felt they needed every second.

"Now ladies I want you to remain self conscious tonight. Have fun, but don't over do it. The last thing you want is to try and pull this routine off with a hangover," M instructed. And with that they all gathered their things and headed to their rooms.

The girls were eager for this party and a chance for some fun and to relax. Unlike the other girls who were done with their mandatory training when they broke for lunch, these three had to then go work on the routine. Miette however had it easier, as she was able to get out of her group dance practice and get one on one training from Paul.

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Day 1 of Dance Lessons

The performers, their escorts, Palermo, and Don Jose were all in the ballroom awaiting the arrival of their dance instructor. Soon however the door opened and a middle aged man with black hair wearing all black, and a woman about the same age also with bright blue hair wearing a black dress walked in.

"Hola everyone, my name is Marcus. And I will be teaching you all the Tango," the man announced introducing himself. "Now if you would all please get with your partner, my partner and I will show you all how this dance is supposed to look when we're done teaching you."

"I already know how to dance this. Can I just leave and train my Pokémon?" Paul asked in his usual cold annoyed tone.

Everyone quickly looked at Paul for his arrogant request, as even if he did know the dance there could surely have room for improvement.

"Oh you think you can tango as good as me?" Marcus asked with an annoyed tone.

"No! Better," Paul replied with a confident smirk.

"Fine then. Prove it," Marcus replied in an annoyed confidence. He then walked over to a set of speakers and plugged his phone in. "You'll show everyone how to tango, and if you can somehow do it as well as me, you and your partner can leave. However, when you most likely fall short, you will apologize to me in front of everyone here, and kiss my shoes."

"Fine," Paul replied casually, having no intention of kissing anyone's shoes. He then took his coat off and tossed it onto a chair along the wall, and took Miette's hand and led her to the dance floor. "Trust me, and let me lead," Paul instructed as he took her hand. Despite Miette never having danced a tango before, Paul knew that with her talent as a performer and having danced other dances before, she could adapt as long as he led. So he had full faith in her abilities.

Marcus turned on the music and with a smug expression waited for Paul to fail, as he saw multiple things wrong with Paul. First off, he seemed to lack very much emotion. Miette looked hesitant at first, which showed her lack of experience, and his hiking boots would make it difficult for him to dance even if he did know what he was doing.

The music started, and after two to three seconds so did Paul and Miette. Paul's movements were smooth and precise, while Miette's showed a slight hesitation at first, but soon it disappeared as she stopped thinking and just moved with the music as she followed Paul's moves.

Everyone looked on with awe and amazement as they watched Paul and Miette dance, as some of the girls became aroused by the seductive moves. Despite Paul's lack of emotion on his face, his movements showed so much passion and fire in his heart.

Upon hearing Paul's deal with Marcus, Ash had considered making the same deal for himself so he could get some good training in. However after watching just a few seconds of Paul and Miette dancing, Ash realized there was no way he was going to be able to pull those kinds of moves off in a week, let alone right now.

Marcus watched the two as he grit his teeth, his blood boiling with anger as he saw they were doing so well, questionably better than him. Soon his anger hit its limits and he turned off the music. "Both of you leave now and get out of my sight. I don't want to see either of you for the remainder of the week!" Marcus said angrily through his teeth.

Paul gave a satisfied smirk and picked up his jacket as he left the room, Miette following only a few steps behind him. After the doors to the ballroom closed and they were out of sight, Miette quickly ran in front of Paul and glared at him with her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you tell me you could actually dance like that?"

"You didn't ask," Paul replied as he tried to walk around. But Miette made sure to not let him pass.

"Fine. Where did you learn to dance like that?" Miette asked, accepting his point, but still wanting more answers.

Paul sighed in frustration over having his way blocked. "My mother owns a dance studio. Reggie used to be her dance partner in her classes until he left home as a trainer. Then I became her dance partner until I left as a trainer. She made sure both of us were excellent dancers from a young age, and still has me show her I still can dance every time I come home," Paul explained. "Now can I please go train my Pokémon?"

Miette then grabbed him by the wrist and began to pull him away. "You know I needed those lessons, so now you're going to have to teach me."

"Fine, but can we start tomorrow?" Paul asked as he tried to slow her down and free himself.

"That's fine. But right now I have other plans for you," Miette replied as they turned a corner.

"What kind of plans?" Paul questioned.

"You can't expect to dance with me like that and not expect me to not be turned on. We are going to find someplace to do it right now!" Miette stated with determination.

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The party was going to be starting any minute now. It was easy to control when the party started, as Don Jose required registering for the Master Class at the Pokémon Center by today at noon. Upon registering they were given the time, and were told that limousines would be picking them up from the Pokémon Center to bring them. Currently all the Kalos performers were standing on the steps to the castle wearing the flamenco dresses provided for them, while their escorts were waiting inside. Serena's dress was red and gold, Miette's was blue and white, and Shauna's was purple and black. The other girls were also wearing similar dresses in different colors. As the limousines arrived, the Master class competitors and their dates began arriving, two couples per limousine. As they arrived, they were first greeted by Don Jose, Palermo, and Aria, who congratulated the girls, then were greeted by the Kalos performers. Some of the greetings from the Kalos performers were a bit more personal if they had met the performers, as in the case of Serena and Isla, and also with Jessilee.

Once inside the performers mingled as they ate hors d'oeuvres from trays carried by waiters walking around the ballroom. Along the walls were tables with the name of a Kalos performer on it to show that was the table they were going to be sitting at, so several of the Torrent Performers were already reserving a seat with their hand bag or a Pokémon. Soon the lights dimmed and the doors on the opposite side of the room swung open as Don Jose and Palermo came out with their arms interlocked. Behind them were the six Kalos Pokémon Performers and their dates. Starting with Aria and Alain, they began to move to either side of Don Jose and Palermo as they entered the room.

"Good evening everyone, and welcome to my party," Don Jose greeted, to which everyone applauded.

"Two years ago the Torrent Region entered into negotiations with the Kalos showcase board to bring Pokémon Performing here to Torrent, and eventually signed a three year contract to evaluate the success the showcases would bring. The hope was to soften the region's image, improve the economy, and to give young ladies like yourselves another option other than becoming a Pokémon trainer," Palermo stated.

"Originally we anticipated thirty showcases would be enough for the participants, and that the smaller venues chosen would suffice for the first few years. But you ladies proved us wrong. Within a few months the venues were selling out weeks in advance, resulting in us having to increase the venue size and they still were selling out. Not to mention the turnout for performers was twice what we originally predicted!" Don Jose announced proudly as the guests erupted into applause.

"With that said, the showcase board is already having additional cities asking to host showcases for next season. As of this morning, fifteen additional cities signed contracts to host showcases for next year. Meaning next year will be even bigger with at least forty-five total showcases already scheduled, and even more cities are expected to sign after tomorrow's Master Class!" Palermo added excitedly. The crowd applauded even louder, upon learning this information. "Now before I turn the evening over to Don Jose, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Kalosian Performers that came here to start off the showcases. These young ladies, hand picked by me as some of the best in Kalos, agreed to drop everything and spend this past year in Torrent to travel and give it their all to hopefully inspire young ladies like yourselves to join the showcases." The crowd applauded yet again as the Kalos performers took a bow. "However they were only here for this year. When performances start back up next year, it will be the job of each and every one of you to inspire the young girls to one day join you on that stage with their Pokémon."

Everyone then applauded yet again from Palermo's speech, before Don Jose started everyone off dancing. Everyone got onto the dance floor and danced several organized dances before the band changed to more modern music for the younger generation to enjoy. Eventually everyone dispersed to the tables for dinner, with the Kalos Performers and dates going first to sit. After Ash and Serena were seated, they began to be joined by several familiar faces.

"Hey guys," Isla greeted as she and her date sat down first. Ash had to look at Isla for a few seconds before he recognized her. Isla's hair was a lot longer than last time they saw one another and was pulled back into a Kalos braid. She was also wearing makeup for a change that also helped throw Ash off. Sitting down next to her as her date was a guy with long semi curly brown hair that was being held back in a Ponyta tail, and gray eyes.

"Hey Isla," Ash and Serena greeted together.

"And you're Patrick, right?" Ash asked as he tried to remember the competitor from the Moltres Cup Tournament.

"That's right. Although I like to go by Trick if you remember," Trick replied.

"Got it. So you two are dating?" Ash asked, sounding a little confused, as there looked to be a fairly large age gap between them.

"Oh no no no," Trick replied as he put his hands out in front of him and shook his head. He didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, as Isla was only fourteen while he was nineteen.

"Yeah, my dad would probably kill him if we were actually dating," Isla replied with a chuckle. "I just didn't want to be the only girl without a date, so when I saw him at the Pokémon center training his Pokémon, I decided to make a bet with him."

"What kind of bet?" Serena asked.

"A Pokémon battle with only physical attacks. First hit to connect wins, and the loser owes a favor," Trick replied.

"And Isla won, and her favor was that you had to be her date," Ash concluded.

"That's right! Nobody beats my Gallade!" Isla said proudly.

"You do realize that could have ended badly right? I mean what if I was some kind of pervert or serial killer?" Trick said, trying to bring up a good point.

"My dad taught me how to read people like an open book. After only a few seconds, I knew you were all right," Isla replied confidently.

"Right, and that's why you told me your dad's also a professional assassin?" Trick relied skeptically.

"I'm pretty sure he's retired from that now," Ash commented casually. Trick laughed a little thinking they were joking, until he saw their faces were completely serious.

Several more couples joined their table, Jessilee and Jeebs, Lola and her date who was a trainer named Ocean, and a performer named Abby and her friend Cheri as her escort. The performers mainly talked with Serena about performing and Serena's first Master Class. While this was happening though, Ash got an unexpected call.

"Hey Ash, it's Isla calling via aura messenger. Do you hear me?"

"Hey Isla. Aren't you talking to Serena?" Ash asked.

"I can do both. I wanted to pass along a message from my dad in case you two don't run into each other tomorrow. He says thank you," Isla replied.

"Thank you for what?" Ash questioned.

"For your work in Pamplona. You did a lot of good towards helping my dad's dream become a reality," Isla answered.

"I killed people! How in the world could that have helped anyone!?" Ash yelled angrily via his aura.

"Well technically it's not just you he wanted to thank, because it wouldn't have been possible without Serena too," Isla admitted.

"I still don't follow," Ash replied, sounding a little annoyed.

"Allow me to explain. While you two were fighting, a family of psychics was holding up in an apartment in one of those buildings. Now before you get mad, the kid's psychic powers hadn't awakened yet, so the parents chose to lay low to ensure their safety," Isla clarified as she felt some anger rising from Ash. "Now they saw the two of you, as they apparently put it, "fighting together as one". Well they told Eligor, and he told the Psychic council. Now they're contacting my dad about wanting to help him establish a school for aura guardians," Isla concluded sounding excited.

"No offense to your dad, but why are they contacting him?" Ash asked.

"The aura guardians are scattered all over the world with no leadership. But over the years my dad has been locating and reaching out to a ton of them. The psychics are seeing my father as the only one with the leadership and influence that could bring all the aura guardians together as one organized group. The current council believes it's time to move past the past, and work together as they once did. This is all thanks to the two of you. You two have pretty much become the example of what our peoples could become if we worked together," Isla said, sounding excited.

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Meanwhile at an airport several hundred miles away, south of Madrid, a large black jet with a red R had just landed and was taxiing to a hanger. As it rolled along the tarmac, it passed several other jets varying in size with the same logo. It came to an empty hanger as it shut down its engines and angled its rear hatch to the hanger. As the hatch opened Butch, Cassidy, Tierno, and two dozen Team Rocket grunts got into formation behind the aircraft. As the door completely lowered to form a ramp to off load it's cargo, it also showed Giovanni himself as he walked out. Behind him was his assistant, Lt. Steele, and Red and Delia both heavily restrained. Surrounding them were two dozen grunts, some of which had black eyes, missing teeth, cuts on their faces, and broken bones, all caused by Red and Delia during the flight as they tried to bring the plane down.

"Giovanni Sir!" Butch and Cassidy called out as they all stood at attention and saluted the Team Rocket boss.

"As you were," Giovanni replied to the group as he looked around. "I must admit. I'm impressed you managed to secure an entire airport as a base for Team Rocket."

"Thank you sir!" Butch and Cassidy replied proudly, as Tierno just rolled his eyes as they took credit for his hard work finding the location.

"We purchased the airport from the region using your freight dummy company. This way Team Rocket can move freely and not draw any extra attention," Tierno stated from behind Butch and Cassidy.

"And who are you?" Giovanni asked.

"Tierno sir. I'm a new recruit," Tierno replied proudly.

"Oh yes. I remember now. You were friends with Ash," Giovanni replied as he remembered reading several reports including him.

"I wouldn't call us friends sir. I just tolerated him," Tierno clarified.

"Well we expect great things from you," Giovanni said as he gestured to his assistant and walked off.

His assistant then handed Tierno a small box and quickly walked off after Giovanni, as Lt. Steele walked up to Tierno and glared down at him. "Don't fail us," was all Steele said before continuing after Giovanni.

Tierno opened the box and smirked as he saw a key stone and a Blastoisite stone. "Haha, how could I fail with these? Ash won't know what hit him."