It was the final day of the contest, and Dawn was finally in a position to relax a little. She had accomplished everything she had wanted to, already. Which was a great, redeeming appeal with Ambipom that had gotten her through to the second round.

She cast her mind to the last time she was in this spot, part of the last eight. Ash only had one gym badge. Dawn only had three Pokémon instead of five. And after several performances in a row that she could be proud of, Dawn had thought she was well on her way to contest success.

How different things had actually turned out. Those first few contests; Jubilife, Floaroma, and the one contest she had won, in tiny Applegate Town, had been the high points of her coordinator journey.

She had tumbled into a valley, and right when she thought she couldn't go any lower, she stumbled again. It was almost hard to remember what it was like when she was doing well.

Back in those days, Dawn had thought Zoey, barring her own mother, was the best coordinator she'd ever seen. There had been no doubt in her mind that she and Zoey would one day face off in the Grand Festival, maybe even in the final match.

That might still be the case, but now Dawn knew there were plenty of coordinators that could easily take her place. Even if they were from Hoenn, considering the Aqua Ribbon would allow someone to come back for the Grand Festival.

If so, Robert would be looking to join the extremely exclusive ranks of coordinators who could claim to have been Top Coordinator in multiple regions.

"Looks like he's finally using his Milotic!" May said in awe, as Robert released his Pokémon. "It's always amazing to see it in action."

"I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about Milotic and contests that go hand-in-hand,'' Brock added.

Dawn frowned slightly, as her rival sent forth her Lumineon from the appeals stage. "I thought people would avoid using fish Pokémon at this point."

"I never said that," Drew interrupted mildly. "Only that you needed supreme skill and confidence to pull it off."

"So, we can expect to see Gorebyss from you again at some point?" May asked him dryly.

"I'm so honored you think so highly of me," Drew said with a smirk, offering his flower to her new friend from Hoenn, to which May rolled her eyes.

Brock and Ash laughed. "I see you two are getting along well," the former gym leader teased May.

"He annoys me less than when I first became a coordinator," May admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to beat him every time we face off."

Even the fiercest of rivalries cooled with time, it seemed. For now Dawn turned her attention to the battle. Both Pokémon were starting underwater.

"Lumineon, Twister!" Zoey led off, with her Pokémon sending a fierce water tornado at Milotic.

"Milotic, Dragon Tail!" Milotic waited for the attack with all the patience and poise of a professional baseball player, smacking it straight back with one elegant, yet mighty swing. But it looked to Dawn as if Zoey was expecting that not to work.

Her mentor's smile remained. "Whirlpool!" Lumineon created an ever bigger spiraling water twister, absorbing the original one, and reversing it back at Milotic.

Robert's brow furrowed at the display. "Mirror Coat!" he eventually ordered, letting his Pokémon shine like a prism, before meeting the giant tornado head on to again send it their opponents way.

"Now use Hurricane!" This felt like a game of ping-pong to Dawn, back and forth with the same attack. Lumineon whipped its winglike fins furiously, sending out a gale that spun around the now colossal twister, turning around the attack one last time, finally to the point where even Robert and Milotic, talented as they were, couldn't answer.

Zoey's amazing," Dawn breathed, watching Robert's points suffer greatly as Milotic was battered by the massive attack the once small Twister had become.

"She really is," May agreed with her. "Zoey really respected Robert's skill as a coordinator. She was expecting him to be able to counter those attacks, and had Lumineon prepared for that!"

"Milotic, Dragon Pulse!" Even in the water, Dawn could see Milotic breathe out beautiful blue dragon fire.

"Lumineon, Alluring Voice!" Lumieon produced a choir-like sound that sliced right through them.

"Iron Tail!" Robert responded, pushing through the sound with its tail in front of it, clipping Lumineon and sending it into a tailspin as his Pokémon swam past.

"Waterfall and Recover! Robert quickly followed up with, using Lumineon's temporary confusion to show his Pokémon off. Milotic rose out of the water, balanced on a towering spout, to shine brightly, with the spray from the pool and Milotic's impeccably beautiful scales enhancing the display.

Zoey was not far behind. "Lumineon, Aerial Ace!" Like she did in the appeal rounds, Lumineon used Aerial Ace to climb the water tower. But Robert was ready.

"Ice Beam!" Lumineon couldn't climb the suddenly frozen tower, and fell back to the water, an Iron Tail from Milotic helping on its way.

Dawn glanced at the points. Despite Zoey's incredible opening sequence, it was Robert who was taking a slight lead into the last minute. The Twinleaf native leaned in. These were the crucial moments that made or broke a coordinator!

"Two Water-types won't deal a lot of damage to each other," May commented. "How well you show them off is what will decide this!"

"Use Aqua Ring!" Robert said, seeing that Zoey was struggling to stop them from doing just that. Milotic summoned rigs of water around it, but Dawn caught a smirk on her rival's face.

"Now Lumineon! Encore!" The fish Pokémon clapped its wings together wildly, applauding Milotic for its Aqua Ring.

"What's happening?" Ash asked, seeing Milotic continue to use its Aqua Ring, regardless of Robert's commands to do otherwise.

"Encore enchants your Pokémon into repeating the same move over and over again," Brock explained to them. "And by forcing Milotic to use the Aqua Ring…"

The marvelous looking Pokémon had disappeared from view completely, covered by a bubble of water. Which left Zoey and Lumineon as the only attractions.

"Surf and Silver Wind, together! The combination of the two moves actually looked like a giant, silvery Lumineon racing across the pool to slam into Milotic's bubble. It was an incredible way to wrap things up.

Zoey somehow seemed to improve every time Dawn saw her, even with how good she was already. On the other hand, she herself…

Dawn felt like she was a much better coordinator than the day she stepped on the Jubilife City stage, but her recent results didn't reflect that. At all.

They all cheered May and Nando as they went up for the next battle, but Dawn was a little concerned to see May had chosen a Skitty, to go against a newly evolved Pokémon from Nando.

"Quaquaval. The Dancer Pokémon, and the final evolution of Quaxly." Ash's Pokédex said aloud. "A single kick from Quaquavel can send a truck rolling. This Pokémon uses its powerful legs to perform striking dances from far off lands."

The Paldean Water-type certainly seemed that way, moving its feet even as the battle was yet to begin. It had all the elegance of a great contest Pokémon, but Dawn had seen Nando's skill as a trainer. She had no doubt that it would be a powerful battler, too.

"Waterfall," Nando said serenely. His Pokémon looked like it was gliding across the water as it surged forward, despite the power of the move.

"Skitty, use Blizzard!" May's adorable pink cat Pokémon stepped up to breathe a storm of ice and snow, forcing Quaquaval to retreat under water to avoid it.

It wasn't there for long, though. "Ice Spinner!" As Quaquaval leapt up, it immediately spun like a top made of ice, descending on Skitty's side of land.

"Double Team!" Skitty evaded by making copies of itself, though Quaquaval cut through them rather easily, forcing May to counter in a different way, as this was costing her precious points.

"Assist!" Out of Skitty's paw came a stream of fire, melting away the ice surrounding Quaquaval and evening up the score.

May had enthusiastically told her yesterday, when Zoey used the move, that Assist let a Pokémon use a move that one of its teammates had learned. Dawn had underestimated how powerful that could be.

Quaquaval quit spinning to return to its dancing ways in the face of the Fire-type attack. "Aqua Step!" Nando said, and Quaquaval really showed off its movement, changing through the SKitty clones and turning them to dust with incredible grace. It was seemingly faster with every step, too.

May certainly agreed with her. "Assist!" This time, it became a String Shot, aimed at the dancing Pokémon's legs.

"Detect!" The Water-type elegantly dodged it without any interruptions to its movements.

"Assist again!" May called, still sounding calm.

Right as Quaquaval was upon Skitty, a storm of petals burst forth, throwing it back heavily, to the point where Quaquaval actually seemed a bit disoriented. "Air Slash!" Nando called, seeing his Pokémon's dizziness, and choosing not to strain it by dancing any more. Quaquavel threw blades of wind at Skitty.

"Use Charm, and Fake Tears!" Skitty endured them all, its eyes growing wider with every hit, with tears falling out of them. Quaquaval, conversely, was losing power with every attack as its will to fight was being sapped away.

"Snap out of it, my friend," Nando urged his Pokémon forward, despite its reluctance to fight. "Use Brick Break!"

"As the dancing Pokémon strode forward, May used the final of in a trio moves that would make any Pokémon enchanted. "Attract!" Skitty blew a heart out towards Quaquaval, and Dawn could almost see the hearts in Nando's Pokémon eyes.

It was as if it was paralyzed, unable to move or attack or do anything, by the strength of the charm that had been placed on it. Which meant May could use any move she wanted.

In the end, she left it up to Skitty. "Assist!" Dawn was sure that this move also belonged to the Venusaur May had shown her the other day. It was a full-powered Solarbeam, straight into Quaquaval's chest to knock the Water-type out.

"May's really improved from the last time we've seen her," Brock said proudly, upon her victory.

"How so?" Dawn and Zoey asked, looking at each other when their questions came out at the same time.

"She used to have an extremely straightforward style, focused on strong attacks, though she often relied on improvisation and creativity when she found herself in a pickle," Brock explained. Everyone's eyes went to Ash, who scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Pikachu made a similar motion.

"May was just starting out," he defended himself. "I was really excited to show her all that I had learned from you and Misty about being a trainer. I didn't mean to have such an influence…"

"In any case," Zoey said diplomatically, "I can see what you mean about improved style, Brock. Our match is going to be a lot of fun. There are so many strong coordinators at this contest, that you have to be at your best throughout."

Others seemed to have different opinions about how May won her battle.

"Assist must be the most broken move I've ever seen!" Luna was saying loudly, from the couch she was sharing with Ursula and Lucas. "Did you guys see that! Every time she used it, Skitty pulled something good!"

"It's not about being lucky," Zoey called over in irritation. "It's about practice and hard work."

Luna didn't give any indication that she had heard Zoey, until she spoke again. "I wish I could work hard and practice at winning the lottery. Then I'd be able to afford a villa in the Resort Area!"

Her friends stared at her. "You always complain about high society," Ursula began.

"So why would you want to join it?" Lucas finished her sentence.

The dark-haired girl waved her hands in the air wildly. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't want to be rich! Especially if I can do it like that." She snapped her fingers in the air for emphasis.

Dawn's mind was elsewhere, thinking upon Ash's words. She grew up in a house with a huge influence: her mother, a former Top Coordinator, who still had a large following, even now. Then, right at the beginning of her journey, she joined up with Ash and Brock, two people who also had several regions worth of experience.

And finally, her first contest was her first encounter with Zoey, a coordinator who was already an expert. Not that they weren't great help on her journey, because they were…

But how many times had she performed without expectations to live up to her legacy, and those of her friends?

Never. Until now, that was, when the only thing she wanted to do was have a good performance with Ambipom. With so many incredible coordinators participating, Dawn didn't feel any pressure. There was no weight around her shoulders at all.

Even as her friends wished her luck in the upcoming match, and as Ursula smirked at her in the tunnel before going off to her side of the arena, and all the way to the stage, Dawn was thinking about that.

She wasn't scared about losing to Ursula again. She had already gone as low as she could go. There was nothing to lose here. Dawn wanted to have a good performance for herself and her Pokémon, and no one else.

That meant there was only one choice for this battle.

"Pachirisu, spotlight!"

"Helioptile, it's showtime!"

Dawn could almost hear Ursula's voice in her head. "You really think you can defeat me with this pathetic excuse of a Pokémon? Haven't we already tried that?"

Yes, but this time is going to be different, Dawn promised her opponent internally. Now we're on an even playing field.

"Use Swift!" Ursula took the first move, and her Pokémon stars that homed in on Pachirisu across the water.

She knew how to deal with this! Her team had worked on combinations with Swift a thousand times! "Discharge!" Pachirisu lit up, creating a blue static field that not only stopped the Swift attack cold, but turned all the stars electric blue before they exploded into sparkling diamond dust.

Dawn cringed. Thankfully, Lucas hadn't gone too far with the story earlier, and revealed to everyone her childhood nickname of Dee-Dee, created by her classmates on the sight of her hair once it had been frizzed up by Plusle and Minun. Pachirisu was taking advantage, flitting around to look as cute as possible, but Ursula was taking the loss of points in stride.

"Surf!" Dawn figured that the audience and announcer were as shocked as she was, to see Helioptile riding a huge wave towards them. She knew the Kalosian Pokémon loved water, but she didn't think it could use Surf!

The impressive display already had her points dropping. "Quick, Pachirisu, spin and use Thunder Fang!" Her Pokémon turned into a whirling electric saw, shooting forward to cut the attack in two before it could crash down on them.

"Quick Attack!" Ursula preempted her, having Helioptile dart off the wave to intercept Pachirisu. The wave slammed down on both of them a moment later, but it was Pachirisu who was picking herself from the ground and shaking herself dry.

"Don't think your lame, tired techniques will work on me more than once," Ursula called over loudly. "Helioptile, Dark Pulse!"

Her Pokémon sent a spiraling beam of darkness Pachirisu's way. Dawn bit down on her lip, not seeing a way out of this. There was so much water everywhere that Pachirisu could slip and fall if she called for a hasty dodge. "Use Bide!" she eventually shouted.

Pachirisu curled into a ball, eating the brunt of the attack, but sent forth a beam of energy twice as powerful. It sent Helioptile flying into the water, but the Electric-type emerged, rather easily, not a few moments later.

Ursula glanced at her points, a satisfied smirk appearing on her face when Heliotpile's quick recovery still had her with a healthy lead. "I just told you! You're not going to pull the wool over my eyes with a half-baked strategy like that! Or else admit you haven't improved one iota! Helioptile! Parabolic Charge!"

Helioptile sent out the orb of electricity that sent electric tendrils in every direction. "Discharge!" she countered.

Dawn had to close one eye as the two electric attacks dueled for dominance, spending sparks flying in every direction. Even though there was a protective barrier, those bad childhood memories were threatening to creep up on her at the worst possible time.

Unfortunately, her opponent noticed. "What's the matter?" Ursula asked, in a faux-concerned tone. "You're not scared of a little lightning storm, are you? Use Shock Wave!"

Even as Parabolic Charge continued to cover the small piece of land in electric tendrils like grasping hands, Helioptile and Ursula were not done. They blasted Pachirisu with a bolt of electricity that followed them wherever they went.

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It was inevitable that Pachirisu would get hit by something, though she did her best to navigate the Parabolic Charge maze and keep up Discharge to stave off the attack when it came too close. It ended up being Shock Wave.

"Use Spark!" Dawn called, sending even more static into the air as the two different colored electric attacks collided. She peeked with her one open eye at the timer, and almost closed in when she realized there wasn't much left.

"It's as I suspected!" Ursula declared. "Your Pachirisu is nothing special at all. It can't even absorb electricity! Finish this with another Dark Pulse!"

Right as Dawn was about to tell Pachirisu to use Sweet Kiss, in desperation, something in her mind clicked upon hearing those words. Absorbing electricity? Parabolic Charge absorbed energy and turned it into fuel for Helioptile. But the move was hanging in the air, like it had a mind of its own.

Was that her way to win this? There wasn't much time to think things through. No time either to listen to the fears in the back of her head. "Quick Attack into the air to dodge!"

Pachirisu knew what she was talking about without her having to explain. Her Pokémon darted straight into the central orb of Parabolic Charge, enduring the electricity to get completely enveloped by the attack.

"Now, Discharge!" she shouted as urgently as possible without losing her composure, while Ursula still had a confused expression on her face.

When her Pokémon used her attack, the entire color of Parabolic Charge changed from yellow to blue. Dawn allowed herself a small smile as Helioptile was shocked and stumbled from being hit by the move.

"Get it out of there!" Ursula said angrily. "Use Dark Pulse!"

"Don't let that happen!" Dawn called. She didn't even have to. Like a puppeteer, Pachirisu was already pulling the strings of Parabolic Charge, bringing the tendrils of electricity together and sending them as a massive blue beam straight at Helioptile.

Their hijacked Parabolic Charge blew straight through the Dark Pulse attack to hit Helioptile with a giant bolt of blue lightning, right as the clock hit zero.

Dawn would admit it readily, she was quite happy to see her face on the big screen instead of Ursuala's The judges really put emphasis on being able to turn around your opponents attacks, making your Pokémon look good while at the same time making the opponent look bad, and that's exactly what they had done, in the end.

"We did it, Pachirisu!" Dawn exclaimed to her Pokémon, once they had received their applause and were back in the tunnel connecting the waiting room and the battlefield. "That should teach Ursula to underestimate how talented you really are! Make sure you get a lot of rest so you can cheer everyone else on, alright?

Someone knocked on the wall behind Dawn to get her attention as she returned Pachirisu to her Pokéball.

It was her opponent. Dawn resisted the urge for a while to say something snarky, as Ursula looked her up and down, but she finally couldn't help herself. "Is there anything you would like to say?"

Ursula answered after another minute of silence. "Yes. I came to say that I was sorry."

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "About what?"

"About calling you a talentless hack riding on the coattails of your famous mother," Ursula reminded her. "I shouldn't have said that. You have some talent, after all."

"Thanks," Dawn muttered under her breath, not really appreciating the compliment. "Anything else you want to apologize for? Like about what you said regarding the skills of my Pokémon?"

"Fine." Ursula rolled her eyes. "They have some talent too. Regardless, you might have squeaked by me today, but don't expect it to happen again. Got that?"

"Excuse me if I don't accept your apology, because you don't sound very sincere," Dawn challenged the other girl, ignoring her other words.

"Think whatever you like," Ursula replied airily, in an unconcerned tone. "I gave you my apology. I didn't come to make friends. You seem to have enough of them already, don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dawn asked, more than a bit confused.

Ursula scowled at her. "I can't put my finger on it, but you're worse than Lucas. Making friends wherever you go, as easily as you like. At least he's a dork and a nerd, and wouldn't know a girl flirting with him if she slapped in the face. No one can be that perfect."

"That's because you judged me without getting to know me," Dawn fired back. "We all have our flaws. Some people have more than others, in fact."

Her rival didn't react, as if she had no intention of getting to know Dawn better at all. "Glad I was able to clarify where I stand," Ursula finally said. "Try not to embarrass yourself in the rest of the contest. It's the least you could do, considering you had the temerity to knock me out."

Was that Ursula's backhanded way of wishing her luck? The other girl turned around and headed back to the waiting room, before she could continue the conversation, but Dawn thought progress had been made. They'd probably never like each other, and would try to kick each other's butts at every opportunity, but most of the poison that they had began seemed to have been drained away.

Maybe Ursula really had changed. A lot of the credit probably had to go to Luna and Lucas for that. Luna was already off her couch, looking between her and Ursula as Dawn entered the room.

"What did you go and say now, Ursula?" Luna demanded.

"Nothing," Ursula demurred, almost angelic-like. "I apologized. Didn't I?" She directed that question at her, and when Dawn was a bit slow to answer Luna repeated it.

"She did," she affirmed.

"Told you," Ursula gloated, before Lucas could follow up with another question. "Now, let's get out of here. I'm out of the contest, which means you two can't be in here anymore. Hope you saved your tickets." She ushered the other two out of the room abruptly, and Zoey turned to her.

"Did she really apologize?" her much friendlier rival asked.

Dawn shrugged. She had, even if it was quite unorthodox. In any case, Dawn was glad to turn her attention to the last quarterfinal match. She had an odd feeling in her stomach about the prospect of fighting Ash and her former Pokémon Buizel, but in the end, it wasn't to be.

She finally understood at least why Drew insisted on carrying a rose around wherever he went, as his signature Pokémon was a Roserade, and it seemed he realized that Ash had planned to use Buizel throughout the tournament from the beginning, per Wallace's request to them.

Even all of Ash's creativity and Buizel's speed could not get around the amount of Grass-type attacks that Drew and Roserade were throwing their way, and Buizel was knocked out before the five minute timer expired.

Still, Dawn was extremely proud of what they had accomplished. They had more than represented Wallace well, and made good on his decision to sponsor them. Who knew? Maybe that Ice Aqua Jet they managed to pull off would become a signature of theirs.

----------------------------------------

Three days of competition had finally turned into three matches to decide everything. The first was between two coordinators who had each taught Dawn so much. It would be an honor and a huge challenge for Dawn to face either May or Zoey in the finals, assuming she beat Drew in the second match, or course.

She didn't really know who was going to win. Zoey was almost unbeatable, but part of Dawn secretly wished May would win, considering since she related to the other girl's struggles as a coordinator so much.

Whatever the outcome, Dawn knew she was going to learn so much from watching them.

"Misdreavus, curtains!"

"Beautifly, time to take the stage!"

>i>Another aerial battle, Dawn thought to herself. But how they use the water is going to be key.

"Misdreavus, Will-O-Wisp!" Zoey said, taking the first move.

"Quick! Use Whirlwind to blow it away!" Beautifly flapped its wings to send powerful gales of winds at the three balls of ghostly fire, but Zoey was unconcerned.

"Psychic!"

Beautifly was frozen in place as a psychic hold prevented it from beating its wings hard enough to move. It winced as all the Will-O-Wisps hit it.

May was also staying extremely calm. "Bug Buzz!" Beautifly started vibrating, producing a sound wave that eventually became so strong that it shattered Misdreavus's Psychic.

"Not bad!" Zoey complimented her opponent. "Shadow Ball!"

"You as well," May said back with a smile. "Dodge it and use Steel Wing!" Beautifly twisted around the Shadow Ball gorgeously before slamming into Misdreavus with reinforced wings.

Dawn got the sense both of them were feeling each other out, not taking risks, since they respected their opponent so much . But with almost half the time off the clock, it was time for them to start getting serious.

"Misdreavus, Psychic!" This time, instead of targeting Beautifly directly, MIsdreavus used Psychic on the pool,bringing up a curtain of water to surround the Bug-type.

"Use Bug Buzz!" May called, perhaps remembering her previous opponent and how effortlessly Yanmega's Bug Buzz was splitting the water with its power.

"Not so fast!" Zoey called, seemingly prepared for that, even though she couldn't see her opponent. "Thunderbolt Attack!"

The attack bounced off the water walls Misdreavus was creating, converging on Beautifly as it was using Bug Buzz. May called out for her Pokémon, with a lot of worry in her voice, Dawn thought.

A large loss in points reflected how effective Zoey's attack was. May was going to have to rebound quickly.

"Morning Sun!" was her move, which Dawn had mixed opinions on. One one hand, it looked amazing, but a healing move left you wide open for another attack.

And Zoey was not one to let you get away with that. "Shadow Ball!"

Beautifly was more like a sitting Ducklett, wings spread to shine as brightly as the sun. It didn't even make a move to dodge the Shadow Ball.

But it wasn't doing anything else, either. A few seconds later, Dawn found out why. The brightest of lights shone from the rafters, as the Beautifly Shadow Ball was aimed at exploding into dust.

"What was that?" Dawn asked, as May managed to pull off the Morning Sun, to the delight of the crowd.

"Substitute," Brock answered her. "It lets you create a dummy to draw the opponent's attention and protect your Pokémon. Thing is, it costs quite a bit of health to pull off. The risk seemed to have paid off, though."

"Well, May and Beautifly have been together a long time!" Ash said emphatically. "It's no wonder they've got so much trust in each other to do moves like that!"

For now, Dawn noted, Zoey was keeping a cool head, like any proper coordinator would, despite the setback of May's Pokémon being rejuvenated. "Thunderbolt again!" Misdreavus charged up with electricity.

"Get ready to dodge!" May told her Pokémon.

"You'll have a much harder time with this," Zoey promised her. "Psychic!"

It was honestly amazing to see how many different uses Misdreavus and Zoey had for Psychic. First directly on Beautifly, then on the pool, and now on their own attack, transforming it into a net, casting a large shadow over Beautifly, rather than a singular bolt of lightning.

May's face was still completely determined. "We can make it through one of those gaps with enough speed! Beautifly, Aerial Ace!" Her Pokémon did a flip in the air before racing forwards with blinding speed.

Her words proved true, with Beautifly shooting the gap easily. The tiniest hint of frustration appeared on Zoey's face, though Dawn supposed it was easier for her to tell than most. Probably because Zoey was using a move that wasn't appealing at all to counter their opponents, as Beautifly slammed into Misdreavus with incredible speed.

"Screech!"

Everyone reflexively covered their ears, even though there was a barrier cutting the sound in the arena. Screech just sounded that bad. Beautifly was getting the worst of it, as it struggled to fly away after hitting Misdreavus. Suddenly, though, the sound was cut off, as Misdreavus was sent flying after Beautifly, against its own will.

It had attached a String Shot when it had made contact with Aerial ace, and now Beautifly was currently dragging Misdreavus all over the arena.

"Keep calm," Zoey shouted to her confused and struggling Pokémon. "Use Will-O-Wisp to break the string!"

"Aerial Ace, one more time!" May said, confidently, at the same time. Beautifly picked up speed, before going into a loop that broke the string before Misdreavus could, whipping the Ghost-type towards the water.

"Use Psychic to stay in the Air!" Zoey called.

"We can use Psychic too! Beautifly, on the water!"

Zoey's eyes widened as two waves were lifted up by Beautifly to crash down on Misdreavus. Her Pokémon floated back to the surface, but not in time.

That was an incredible battle. Dawn hardly had time to reflect on it, because Drew had shoved his rose into her face. "I suppose since May's in the final, I need to make my way there as well. Try to keep up" .

Part of her was very happy with all that she had accomplished so far. But she also really wanted to face off against May in the finals.

Drew had an air of confidence and swagger that he carried around him like a cloud. Then again, everyone was beatable in this competition, no matter how skilled they were. She just had to make it happen.

"Piplup, Spotlight!"

"Gorebyss, it's your turn!"

It was inevitable at some point that she would have to battle Water-type against Water-type. Hopefully all that training Ash and Brock and Zoey and May did with her wouldn't be in vain.

She also recalled the advice that had been floating around that past couple of days. One, that Water-types wouldn't deal too much damage to each other, so showing them off wasn't as important. And two, the weakness of Pokémon that were confined to the Water like Gorebyss.

Drew surely had something up his sleeve, then. Was it Gorebyss's psychic powers? Dawn had seen how effectively they could be used a few minutes ago.

The announcer started the battle, the timer started going down, and it was time to find out.

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn called. Her first partner jumped in the pool to pepper Gorebyss with a stream of bubbles.

Her opponent was not concerned in the slightest, even as his points started to dwindle. "Amnesia, Gorebyss." An empty look appeared in Gorebyss's eyes, as it completely relaxed, as if not even feeling their Bubblebeam.

Dawn couldn't have that! Use Peck, Piplup!" Piplup spun in the water in their improvised version of Drill Peck for extra oomph, but despite the damage, Drew and Gorebyss didn't attempt to dodge.

"Iron Defense." As she watched on the screen with the rest of the audience, when Piplup swam around for round two, their next attack bounced off Gorebyss like it was nothing.

She didn't know what game Drew was playing, but it was time for a different strategy. "Piplup, out of the pool and use Disarming Voice! Then Aqua Ring!"

A lot of the advanced techniques they had worked on were still in progress, but they could pull off, as a homage to Wallace. Piplup split all the water spray from him shooting up back onto land with some extremely cute sounds, before bringing all the mist back into rings that spun around him like hula-hoops.

Meanwhile, Drew continued to tell Gorebyss to use Iron Defense and Amnesia, even as the battle approached its halfway points, and his points were almost halfway drained too. Dawn was rather confused. He hadn't even done anything?!

Other than smelling his rose, that was.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and his flower was tossed to the side. "I think we're more than ready," Drew said mysteriously. "Use Surf!"

"Bubblebeam!" Dawn countered. She figured that if she could keep things even between them, the amount of points Drew had lost would mean she would win, as odd as this battle turned out.

For the first time, though, her points took a hit, as her attack didn't register at all against Gorebyss, and Surf crashed down on Piplup.

Drew was educating her even before she could wonder or ask aloud what had happened. "Sometimes you need power," he said, "even in contest battles. But other than Ambipom, which I recognize as Ash's to begin with, your Pokémon are lacking in it. Now you can't even touch us. Gorebyss, Psychic!"

Piplup was picked up carelessly like a ragdoll and flung all over the arena. True to Drew's words, their attempts to dissuade or break Gorebyss's concentration with attacks had zero effect.

As was another attempt to show off with Aqua Ring. Gorebyss put an end to that with one quick Ice Beam. This was a worse pickle than the last battle! And that was bad enough!

She hadn't caused Drew to lose any of his points in a while. Maybe showing off in a different way was the solution to their drought?

"Into the pool and race across!" she ordered, hoping that Piplup's speed would be the difference.

Unfortunately, Drew had them beat there, too. "Agility," he called simply, to which Dawn flushed, mentally berating herself, because she had seen it use that move in the appeals phase. Gorebyss left Piplup in the dust, or water spray as it were.

Her Pokémon started puffing out his chest, a clear sign Piplup was getting mad. Dawn reminded herself to stay level headed. A loss here wasn't the end of the world. She had accomplished so much already.

That said, going out with a whimper would leave a bad taste in her mouth nonetheless. "Whirlpool!" Piplup was getting so worked up that the entire pool was turned into a raging, swirling vortex.

Gorebyss was caught up in the move, struggling against the waves, but Drew glanced at the clock and shrugged.

The message was clear. This alone wasn't going to save her. "Piplup, use Bide!"

"Normally, that could break through even our extremely strong defenses," Drew said with a careless shrug. "But if we don't attack, then this Bide won't be very strong, will it?"

"Well, then, if you're not going to attack, we'll just have to do it ourselves! Piplup, hit yourself with the Whirlpool!"

Finally, Drew's collected expression dropped. "What?"

Piplup dropped his concentration and let the swirling water's take him, battering him and tossing him about in the Whirlpool, just like Gorebyss, as he curled in on himself and started storing energy for a retaliatory attack.

"Use Psychic!" Drew called, with more urgency than Dawn had ever heard him before. "Hold the Whirlpool in place so you can escape!"

Gorebyss did its best, but every wave slamming into it broke its concentration and it was making no progress at all.

TIme was running short. They had to hope it was enough. "Do it, Piplup! Unleash!" Her Pokémon sent forth a beam of energy so powerful it cut through the Whirlpool and blasted Gorebyss straight back into the arena barrier.

The last few seconds ticked away. Dawn took a deep breath and looked up at the screen. Her and Piplup were on it.

----------------------------------------

She didn't have much time to celebrate making it to the finals after so long, and for the first time in a major contest as well. There was one more battle to be fought, after all.

May met her in the tunnel before the match. "Congratulations on making it to the finals, Dawn!" the other coordinator told her warmly.

"You too," Dawn replied. "I've never beaten Zoey, so the fact you were able to is super impressive!"

"She was a really tough opponent," May said. "As I'm sure you will be. No hard feelings about our friendship if I do everything in my power to win, right?"

Dawn held out her hand. "None at all. Let's give everyone a final to remember!"

They both took their places on opposite sides of the arena, and let the announcer present the finals.

"I hope everyone's enjoyed this fabulous Wallace Cup as much as I have. All that's left for us is to crown the winner! On my Right is May, representing Hoenn! And on my left is Dawn, representing Sinnoh! Ladies, send out your Pokémon!"

"Glaceon, take the stage!"

"Ambipom, spotlight!"

It seemed they both had decided to go with the Pokémon they began the contest with for the final battle. Dawn had seen firsthand how well a Glaceon could use water to its advantage, but May had seemed surprised when they had mentioned all the creative ways Luna had used her Glaceon.

If it really had evolved only when May came over to Sinnoh, they probably didn't have much time to explore the possibilities. Dawn had overcome some serious competition to make the finals as well.

She could win this. She knew she could.

"Glaceon, Ice Shard!

"Ambipom, Swift!"

May's attack came out much faster than their own. Ambipom was peppered with ice crystals, but she still managed to send a Swift attack into the sky to rain down on Glaceon from above.

An equal trade. Lucas had told them as they were preparing for the finals of the HEarthome Tag Battle, that Luna and Glaceon preferred to stay at range and attack if they could.

She didn't take long to consider the point. "Ambipom, use Swift so you can cross the pool!" With a huge star under her, and her tails paddling away, Ambipom was off, closing the distance rapidly with their opponents.

They weren't to make it easy, though. "Glaceon, Iron Tail!" Glaceon slammed its tail into the pool, disturbing it and sending water everywhere, including several large waves at Ambipom.

"Get ready, Ambipom!" Dawn called out to her Pokémon. "Use Double Hit!" Ash might have punched straight through the waves, but her influence as a coordinator was shining through. Instead, Ambipom clapped in front of each one with her tails, letting the sound wave shatter the wave instead.

It was a great way to show off. Ambipom leapt from her surfing star onto the battlefield to bring the fight to their opponents once she was in range.

"Fire Punch!" Dawn shouted, ready to get this started.

"Icy Wind!" May answered with a smile.

Dawn's eyes widened as she realized that Icy Wind wasn't targeted at her Pokémon directly, but at the ground instead, where there were all the water puddles from Glaceon's previous attack.

All Glaceon needed was a second to lash out with Iron Tail when Ambipom slipped, and Dawn knew her lead had evaporated.

That was okay, though. It was way more fun this way.

"Use Focus Punch, Ambipom!" Dawn called next.

"There's no way you'll get that attack off in time! Glaceon, Ice Shard!"

"We will if you don't hit us! Ambipom, evasive maneuvers!"

Ambipom went into gymnastics mode, using all of her cartwheels and somersaults and flips and twists to stay in front of Ice Shard, sometimes by a hair. Dawn's face lit up as Ambipom's tails glowed bright orange.

"Now! Into the ground!" Ambipom slammed the ground with her focus punch, knocking Glaceon down,and sending a bunch of ice crystals into the air.

Dawn thrust a triumphant finger forward. "Fling!" Ambipom grabbed every last one out of the air and sent them flying back at Glaceon, as fast as almost any Ice Shard.

Their combination was a total success, but a glance at the clock confirmed that there was still plenty of time for May to make a comeback. Dawn had to be ready.

May's next move didn't make a whole lot of sense, though. "Glaceon, Shadow Ball!" she called. Dawn was almost paralyzed in her confusion. A Ghost-type move? Surely it wouldn't do anything to her Ambipom.

She was a bit too slow in giving a response to what they were doing. The Shadow Ball landed at Ambipom's feet, clicking up a plume of dust that prevented them from seeing Glaceon rushing towards them with Quick Attack.

"Ambipom, Fire Punch!" Dawn finally managed, feeling foolish.

"Too slow!" May countered. "Glaceon, Double Kick!" As Ambipom was lighting her tails on fire, Glaceon was already moving, spinning and kicking Ambipom into the air, then jumping and doing it again, sending Dawn's Pokémon higher.

"Come on, Ambipom," Dawn urged her Pokémon. "Focus and use Swift!" Ambipom opened her eyes, gritted her teeth, and sent stars raining back down towards their opponent.

"Glaceon, Alluring Voice!" May commanded. Her Pokémon sang, cutting through their Swift attack with the sound of its voice alone.

As they were coming into the final few seconds, Dawn couldn't tell if there was any separation between them on the scoreboard. May was as challenging as she had expected.

They each had time for one more move, to try and win this. "Ambipom, use Dark Swift!" Dawn settled on, for her final act. Her Pokémon started juggling her Swift stars, letting some of them hit each other to explode in a rainbow of colors, but not enough to take the focus off of Ambipom herself. Eventually, the number swindled to a few, which Ambipom supercharged with Fling to make them pitch-black and imposing.

Ambipom sent them pinging off the barriers to try and faze Glaceon, but neither the Ice-type nor its coordinator was anything less than the portrait of poise.

"What an impressive move!" MAy congratulated her, though Dawn knew something else was coming. "We have to take some of that for ourselves! Mirror Coat!"

Oh no! She had totally forgotten that Glaceon could use Mirror Coat! Having committed, Dawn could only watch, holding her breath with all the other observers in the audience and at home, as Glaceon shone like glass and charged headfirst into the attack, pushing against it with everything the Ice-type had.

Perhaps it was because Glaceon had only recently evolved, or because their move was a Dark-type one or maybe dark Swift was simply that powerful, but Glaceon was struggling to rebound the attack. Every second, Glaceon looked like it would be overcome, being pushed back, before bending its legs more and fighting back.

One wrong foot, as Glaceon was trying to get position, was all it took for the Ice-type to stumble back overwhelmed by the attack even as Mirror Coat sent some of it flying back at Ambipom, too fast and powerful to avoid.

Dawn would think about that one misstep all night. That was the difference between winning and losing.

The reason she was able to call her mom and tell her to clear space on the trophy shelf.

She was finally bringing one home.