On the plane, Kawachi complains about the economy-class food. Kuroyanagi shares with him that if you cut an ordinary dinner roll with a ration of 4:6, then add meat in the middle, you'll get a great tasting hamburger. Kawachi eats it and has a flashback to "ordering a smile" at a WcDonalds with his younger siblings while he was still in junior high. Kawachi then asks Kuroyanagi if they'll be entering the Monaco Cup, which Kuroyanagi confirms. They will study in Paris for a month, then go to Monaco for the competition. Azuma, turning his attention to eating his meal, discovers that Coo has stowed away with them.
Upon arrival in Paris, Azuma and Kawachi go into complete tourist mode. They want to explore everywhere, and run all around the streets. A woman, noticing them, bumps into Kawachi and leaves. The next day, Kawachi discovers his wallet missing, and the woman from the day before meets them, holding the wallet. She is the Meister GM's sister Sophie, their host while in France, and warns them that Paris is not as safe as Tokyo, so they had better be on their guard. She noticed Coo the day before. She takes them to her small shop, the Gordon Blue, which belonged to her foster father. Azuma and Kawachi notice a "Southern Pantasia" like syndrome, where the bread is excellent, but there is hardly any business... when Sophie is asked about this, she directs their attention to the largest bread store in Paris, the Maison Kayser (complete with a funky bird mask). The Kaysers are France's pride and joy of baking, and the favorites to win in the Monaco Cup. As the group stands staring at the giant building, one of the Kayser brothers (Edward, also with bird mask) approaches them and invites them in to "welcome them as VIPs". Team Japan accepts, in order to scope out their competition. Inside, they are greeted by the two other Kayser brothers, arranged like a totem-pole (and more bird-masks). They are offered brioches, and Kuroyanagi has a bread reaction (the last one we'll see for a good while ;_;) that involves Gash becoming an anime and eating yellowtail raw (you should wash it- buri wash! = brioche... yeah). The Kaysers claim that, in France, Solar Hands are not special, but rather something called "Goddess Hands" is the thing to beat. They wiggle their fingers around rediculously, and Kawachi is in shock. Suwabara and Azuma, however, aren't impressed, and imitate the movements, claiming that anyone can do it and that it shouldn't be "world class".
The days fly by, and a month passes in... well, one page. All three of the Japanese representatives have learned well, and it's time to go to the Monaco Cup. Sophie will be going with them, to help them out while they're in Monaco. So, they get ready and go!
The night before they leave, Kawachi is still having serious debating issues about Kanmuri's planned clown act for him. Sitting up in bed at night, he ponders what he should do. He decides that, since Sophie is going with them, he can't embarass himself in front of a girl he knows, so he will call Kanmuri and make him think of a new plan. But, he's never made an overseas call before... suddenly, the box Kanmuri gave him starts ringing! He opens it up to find a cellphone and Kanmuri on the other end of the line. Kanmuri reassures Kawachi, telling him that he's not a clown... he's a 10 billion yen Rodin! Kanmuri also tells Kawachi not to throw the box away yet, since there's something else important inside... Kawachi explores it to find 3 small boxes, and wonders what's inside.
In Monaco, Kuroyanagi explains the exhibition that takes place before the actual competition. Each team is to make something that showcases their abilities, but it has no bearing on the final result. This is what Kanmuri had explained to Kawachi, and everything's going according to plan so far. Kawachi suggests that they create a model of The Thinker, which the team agrees is a good idea. Once it's done, however, Kawachi (in plan) drops and ruins it, causing him to suggest a new route to take... and, at the exhibition, there is a Kawachi-sized Thinker on display for team Japan. The only problem is that Kawachi (inside the bread) has to go to the bathroom, and holds it in for as long as he can... and eventually moves his hand to help hold it in, but it looks... wrong... from the outside. Team Japan's odds against them are 246 to 1, making Kawachi the 12 billion yen Rodin! However, because of the "disgrace", team Japan loses 2 points, starting them at a disadvantage.
The first competition rolls around, and we are introduced to none other than the gourmet judge of the Monaco Cup, the world class clown himself, Pierrot Bonnaz (<3). We are told that the Kaysers are the winners from the year before, and Team Japan marches in to boos and groans from the audience. The theme of the first contest is... roulette! Each team gets three roulette balls to toss onto a roulette wheel that has ingredients on it. Whatever three the team get, they have to use to make bread, and can't use anything else! Azuma and Kawachi toss theirs, and both land on egg (note: they want sugar and salt). Suwabara, boasting about his abilities, tells them he'll land on the sugar space between Auzma's egg space and Kawachi's egg space. And he almost does... but at the last second it bounces out and also lands on egg. Azuma comes through with Japan once again, asking Pierrot for a special kind of flour and creating Japan #21, Castilla Japan! Pierrot, multiplying himself 150 times (to judge every team at once) eats it, has a flashback (see the Japan dictionary for more on his flashbacks), and gives team Japan a perfect score, 5 points. Now it's time for competition 2...
Suwabara, in the meantime, is feeling frustrated that Azuma has a Japan for every situation, and vows to show the competitors at the Monaco Cup that the rest of Team Japan isn't useless. He challenges the Kaysers, telling them that he will solely compete in round 2, and Edward accepts the challenge, telling Suwabara that he will represent Team France. It is decided that whichever team gets a lower score in the round will drop out of the competition. Kawachi is nervous, but Azuma has faith in Suwabara. Now, if they just knew what the theme was...
It's second round time, and (in true gambling style), they've moved from roulette to slot machines. Suwabara uses his super-samurai-sight (holy alliteration) to rack up the coins, each of which has an ingredient written on it. Edward, sitting next to Suwabara, has won only a few coins, but says "sometimes less is more"... Pierrot, explaining the rules afterward, tells the competitors that they must use every single ingredient on those tokens in a bread for round 2. Suwabara is convinced that the Kaysers are cheating, which they probably are (since nobody knew about the rules beforehand, even Pierrot, except the French sponsoring the tournament), but is still determined to make a good bread. He tells Edward to get ready to face his Lupan #3, Pain De Épis Kai[Kai]! (first Kai meaning new and second Kai, like his name). He makes it, crushing all the ingredients to put into it, and finishes up as Pierrot begins judging. Pierrot doesn't even have to eat the Kayser's bread, since he had it the year before, and gives them a perfect 5. When he comes to Suwabara, he is about to eat the bread, but claims there are no apples in it! But there are, he made a mistake. So he judges it, has another flashback (to when he met his girlfriend Meg, and how she wouldn't go with him to Las Vegas, so they broke up and she gave him a 'nan de ebisu' = pan de ebisu = pan de epis), and gives Team Japan a perfect 5, claiming that if he could, he'd give them better than a 5. So neither Team France nor Team Japan drop out of the competition. Time for battle 3.
Pierrot, at this point, announces the 16 countries who have the right to continue. With perfect scores, Teams France and America. Other passing teams include China, England, Egypt, and, of course, Japan. Azuma notices that one of the members of Team America is none other than Shachihoko! He was hired to represent Pantasia America... by Yukino (gasp)! Also, the 3 Kayser brothers merge into their 'ultimate form', so now all three of them are stacked like a totem pole.
Meanwhile, back in Japan, Yukino and Yuuichi plot. Yuuichi is confident that, in the event that Team France doesn't take down Team Japan, Team America definitely will. Yukino laughs it up and plots to get rid of the Southern Pantasia store (and Tsukino) once and for all, since Tsukino now has no emergency money if the store goes in the red. So, so evil...
Back at the SoPan store, Kanmuri, the Manager, and Tsukino try to figure out how to make money. The Manager comes up with the idea to put Kino on display outside the store, since Kino can multiply himself and imitate-copy bread. It brings in some business. Good on you, Kino.
At the Monaco Cup, Pierrot announces the theme for the next round- a speed contest! Make bread as fast as you can! Non-rising bread (like Azuma's Japan 16) will not be accepted. And, the catch, only 8 teams will pass, in order of speed. Better get started, Team Japan...
A speed contest? Suwabara and Azuma seem calm, ready to make bread that will only take 90 minutes if they don't let it rise! Then Pierrot chimes in with another rule, that the teams only have 60 minutes max. Whoops. Azuma comes to the rescue with Japan #3 and a microwave, making bread in 40 minutes. In the time it takes their bread to bake, though, 7 teams pass: France, America, Vietnam, Egypt, China, Korea, and Denmark. There's only 1 place left! Japan #3 finishes, and Suwabara quickly gets it to Pierrot, who eats it and has his reaction. Whee, so Japan moves on!
Elsewhere, Yuuichi decides that he needs to do some interfering, so he goes to visit his friend Rame, who happens to be the Chairman of the Monaco Cup. Yuuichi tells Rame that Team Japan needs to be defeated. So, Rame fixes it so that the next battle will be a little different... in that it will be held on a deserted island. For one week. With no tools except flour and skill. However, Team Japan's odds are a little unbalanced... and only 4 teams will move on from this competition.
First they're dropped off on a beach at the very southernmost tip of the island that disappears at high tide... then Azuma gets sucked into a whirlpool as they're swimming away. Kawachi and Suwabara, though concerned, decide to make their way to the northern end of the island, where fruit is said to grow (so they can use it to sweeten their bread). Azuma is saved by Team Egypt, who are really a police unit in disguise, working to make sure no cheating goes on in the Cup. The French team is tipped off by Rame to get the fruit they need, then to set fire to the forest. Kawachi and Suwabara, caught in the middle of the firey island, are saved by the Pyramid of Team Egypt. They reunite with Azuma and make bread using potatoes that Azuma finds and sap from the palm trees around them, Japan #9, Taiyaki Japan! They get off the island after a whole week stranded there, Pierrot eats their bread, has his reaction, and tells them that they definitely pass. Team Japan then passes out from severe heat stroke and exhaustion.
In the hospital after recovery, Team Japan praises Azuma for his Japan #9. Pierrot comes to visit them, looking surprisingly normal. He tells them the news that all teams involved (led by Rame, who is in turn led by Yuuichi) have declared the desert island battle invalid and that there is going to be a rematch- Yukino Azusagawa accepted on behalf of Team Japan (that tricky b****). So, sadly, all of Team Japan's hard work was for none, but at least Pierrot is pulling for them to win. The next battle is to be another strange one... in Mexico.
The flight to Mexico occurs with Pierrot at the controls of the small plane. However, under Rame's rules, the team's can't just land and drive to the battle location... they have to parachute in. And, conincidentally, the "assistants" who are to help Team Japan have their orders to land them right in the mouth of the almost 1500 foot deep Huautala Cave. Add the fact that Suwabara's scared of heights and passes out... and it's not a good mix. With Suwabara unconscious and the assistants gone, it seems like Kawachi and Azuma will be stuck in a cave while Suwabara falls to his death... until Pierrot jumps out of the plane, catches Suwabara, and they all land safely in the cave together (note: Pierrot <3). Now it's just a matter of them getting out...
Stuck in the cave, they explore and eventually discover a small lake and stream. Pierrot explains that the stream runs underground for miles, then ends up as a river that runs right alongside the site where this battle was to be held. Team Japan's disappointed, however, since even Kawachi (their best swimmer) couldn't swim underground for that long. Pierrot, seeing their disappointment, lies and tells them that he, a world class clown, could do it (even though he can't swim at all). But, the catch is that they have to make him that round's bread before he swims, to "give him strength". Spirits lifted, Team Japan catches fish and begins their baking process (since Pierrot had all the tools with him) while Pierrot tries to plan how to stall for as long as possible. Thanks to Azuma's Japan, the bread is done in no time, and Pierrot freaks out, then sucks it up and goes into the water, only to sink and swallow a bunch of fish and water. He's saved by none other than Pharoah-sama, the pyramid of Team Egypt, who was left on the deserted island when everyone else left. Pharoah dug underground all the way to Mexico, swept Pierrot up and out of the water, and then tunnels to the surface, getting Team Japan out of the cave.
Meanwhile, on the shore of the river, Sophie and Kuroyanagi (playing a GBA) get some disturbing news from Shachihoko- Rame has "committed suicide"! Of course those quotation marks aren't there for a reason. Poor Rame. Team Japan finally reaches the river, and Azuma greets Kuroyanagi with gusto. Kawachi urinates on the King of the Monaco Cup (who has shown up for this competition) and is shot at by the King's bodyguards, but the King forgives him. Pierrot, meanwhile, has been running around judging the other teams' bread, and passes 4 teams: America, France, China, and Japan.
Back in Monaco at last, Kuroyanagi tells the team that the theme for the semifinals has been announced... sports bread, for the Monaco Grand Prix the following week.
(Note: Insert the most humorous Omake yet after volume 10. If you like Lord of the Rings, you must read it. Must.)
First up, the Suwabara vs. Monika battle- but before that, Kuroyanagi gets a phone call from his old buddy, Brad Kid! Kid has done some research on Monika and found out that she is the world champion pastry chef- a beauty battle should be a cinch for her! (We also get more backstory on Monika, like how Yuuichi bribed her to be on team America by promising her a "candy castle" that she and her family had always wanted), Suwabara is ecstatic that she's a champ pastry chef though- he can't wait to battle her. When the day arrives, Monika's in a swimsuit, trying to throw Suwabara off (since he's girl-illiterate), but it only serves to make him rip off his outfit so that they're "even". Anyway, the battle begins, and Monika comes up with a beautiful rye bread with a rose growing out of it- and the rose actually blooms in time! Suwabara, on the other hand, comes up with a crown, complete with fruit that shine like jewels embedded in it. Pierrot judges both and has a great reaction to Suwabara's, but Monika's is so good that Pierrot has himself arrested (convoyed) for it. Suwabara admits defeat, and Monika starts liking him because he didn't think her hands (scarred from working with candy) were ugly. Onto the Kawachi battle, which is really getting Kawachi nervous...
Kawachi's trying to think hard of what to do to battle Shachihoko. He has almost resigned himself to using Kanmuri's boxes (which contain bottles that look and smell like poison), when suddnely... Kanmuri shows up from under a bed! That's right, Tsukino, the Manager, Kanmuri, and yes, even Kino have all come to Monaco to cheer on their team in the finals (they took out a loan). They've also invited Kawachi's family to Monaco to see him battle in the finals. Kanmuri tells the nervous Kawachi that the bottles (that were in the boxes) will make him so sick, that someone else (Kuroyanagi, Kanmuri, Tsukino) can be his stand in for the battle with Shachihoko. Kawachi, against the wishes of Tsukino, drinks a bottle... only to find that it's only water, and that Tsukino, the Manager, Kanmuri, and Kino are all very disappointed in him. After a few harsh parting words and a discussion about Kawachi's father, the SoPan workers leave to the hall, where they discuss how it was all planned to get Kawachi "fired up" for the battle, since he's at his best when he's cornered. Kawachi dives into his work, welding a special pan to bake his bread it and completely isolating himself in the dark room. Even Suwabara is shocked at the change that takes place in his teammate. The time for the battle arrives, and Kawachi's ready.
Shachihoko's not one to be unprepared, and he's got an Egyptian-type bread for this battle. It's glazed and cooked over a fire and is excellent nutritionally to eat everyday. However, Kawachi is sure he'll win with his "victory bread", even the pan he made is in the shape of a V. Pierrot (out of jail now) has a great reaction to Shachihoko's "Mega Slow Food Cannon Alexandria" where he turns into Detective Conan and freezes time, and then tries Kawachi's bread... unfortunately, while he was reacting, he was stabbed in the back, so he loses a lot of bread during the flashback he has in response to the Victory Bread. Before he's sped off to the hospital, he tells Kawachi that he is the winner, but it's a bittersweet victory- it's discovered that Pierrot will die if they can't find someone with his blood type... type Bombay! Strangely enough, this blood type (which is usually only passed down through the same family) is the same as the King of the Monaco Cup... and oh dear goodness... Pierrot has a father at last! However, at the hospital during the blood transfusion, both Pierrot and the King are in critical condition... and, while talking in heaven, Pierrot tells the King that he doesn't want to find the parents that didn't want him...
In heaven, Pierrot gets totally drunk and continues making fun of his parents, while the King feels worse and worse. Finally the King hugs Pierrot and tells him the truth- Pierrot is Prince Leol, heir to the Monaco throne! Meanwhile, at the hospital, the King has taken a grip on the needle and continues to lose too much blood, and team Egypt comes in and explains the story to Azuma, Kawachi, the Manager, Tsukino, and Shachihoko. When Leol (Pierrot) was born, the King wanted his son to live with a civilian family right away, so as to not be taken from his family when older (Leol's mother died after childbirth). However, the family that Leol was given to took the money given to them and ran, using Leol as a hostage. The parents later abandoned Leol at the circus and committed suicide abroad. So, Pierrot is Leol, the next King, Leonhart XV!
In heaven, Pierrot is dumbfounded and discovers that he is fading, while the King is dying. While fading, Pierrot desperately tries to say something to his father, but can only think "otousan" before he fades back. Afterward, the press goes wild and Pierrot masks his pain through celebration and parties with his circus buddies, but when team Japan calls him on it, he stops and breaks down. Pierrot is crushed that he never got to say anything to his parents besides insulting them when he didn't know them- Azuma says that if that's the case, he'll make a bread to send Pierrot to heaven so that Pierrot can speak with his parents. However, without the tools to make Japan 44, Azuma will make a whole new kind of Japan- Japan #61! We also learn through Kuroyanagi that Shadow is a famous pantomime, and has been taught to mimic one of the greatest bread artisans in the world- Yuuichi Kirisaki! Will Japan 61 be enough to win the finals against Shadow and reunite Pierrot with his parents, even for a while?
We begin volume 14 with some Shadow backstory- Shadow first discovered his talent for mime through athletes, and strove to be like them and become the best man in the world. However, when his friends discovered that he didn't actually have talent for games but rather for mimicry, Shadow stopped going to school, locked himself in his room and studied tapes of Marcelle Marceau all day long for years. He eventually became a fabulous mime, but became unable to look at others without mimicing them- the only way he could act or speak for himself was to roll his eyes up into his head so that he couldn't see other people. He got an agent and did some great performances, but his agent dumped him eventually because there was no "soul" in his mimicry. Shadow became depressed and wandered around until Yuuichi Kirisaki found him and hired him to mimic baking in order to defeat team Japan in the Monaco Cup. Kirisaki is planning a Gopan bagel for the finals, one that will send the judge (Pierrot) "to space"! Kuroyanagi says that this Gopan may be even more dangerous than Japan #44- since both Kuroyanagi and Pierrot are very sensitive judges (hence why Japan 44 worked so well), who knows what will happen with a bread that is supposed to send people to space- it may send them somewhere better than heaven!
The days pass, and Azuma throws himself into creating his Japan 61. The rest of the crew acts worried, but they're really confident in Azuma's skills and his goal to send Pierrot to see his parents- that's really all that matters. When the day of the match finally arrives, the crowds that have come to see "King Leol" are so huge, nobody can get through, so Pierrot comes in a helicopter to pick them up (and Suwabara is still scared of heights). Pierrot is touched that both teams want to help him see his parents- wait, what? That's right, when Pierrot picked up Shadow, Shadow told him that he would send Pierrot to space, where his parents had "turned into stars". What next?!
The battle begins, complete with Pierrot using wires to float above the crowd. Shadow begins kneading bagel dough (harder dough with less water in it) extremely quickly, faster than even the Manager could, and then adds a special kind of rice, which Kuroyanagi explains is rare Japanese rice used in mochi (Kuroyan explains because Pierrot doesn't know about it, kukuku~). Azuma, meanwhile, is using cannabis milk (cannabis is the seed form of marijuana) in his bread, which Pierrot likes. When Pierrot points out that Shadow isn't using very many "American" themed things for the theme of "bread of the home country", Shadow explains that instead of water, he is using Rice Dream (which is a health drink they sell here in the USA, tastes sort of like flavored soy milk). Pierrot accepts this "New Yorkan bagel with American Rice Dream", and the battle continues. Then Azuma adds some sort of brown powder- the signal of his counterattack according to the Manager, his signal flare! The true battle begins now!
Shadow continues by boiling his bagel in tea, the traditional English black tea, "Quality Season". This will allow it to absorb all the flavor of the tea, creating a superb, refined bagel. Then, Shadow adds the finishing touch- deep frying the bagel! This finishes the Gopan bagel, a rapid time for Shadow's side, while Azuma is just starting to bake. Shadow tells Pierrot to hurry and eat the bagel and go see his parents, so Pierrot takes a bite... and is suddenly drawn as in Galaxy Railway 999, en route to planet Martel (his mother's name). He reaches the planet and tells his mother all about him... but there are 50,000 of her on the planet! Goman Martel!
Pierrot comes back to Earth, suddenly shouting "Goman Martel!" and startling Kawachi (and others). He is welcomed by Shadow, who asks how his trip to space was. Pierrot is thrilled- he only wanted one mother, but he got 50,000! Shadow gets a 100%, hands down! Kawachi is worried about Azuma and starts looking at brochures for Spain, but the Manager reassures him, telling him that they can run after they see what happens with Azuma's donut.
Donut? That's right, Azuma cuts his bread into a donut shape, and bakes it, then startles everyone by beginning to deep-fry it! And not only is he deep-frying after baking, but he's using cannabis oil to fry it! Azuma explains that he took the time to extract the oil from the cannabis seeds before the match to use for frying. He also added sesame oil so that the cannabis oil (which has a low ignition temperature) wouldn't catch fire. He finishes deep-frying and announces so, but when Pierrot goes to eat it, Azuma tells him he has to wait- until it's done baking for the second time!
Why bake again? Kawachi is super confused, and even Kanmuri can't offer an explanation. But then Azuma sprinkles the donut with ground cannabis seed mixed with sugar, and it's suddenly clear- he's going to carmelize the donut with the second baking! All right! Kawachi and Tsukino are thrilled, sure that Azuma will win, but Kanmuri is still hesitant- it may be super, but not "ultimate". The Manager smiles, though, stating that the ultimate taste isn't made by ingredients alone...