A/N: Review please!!!

Chapter 3

Dawn's eyes slowly opened. She now had a clear view of the entire audience. She couldn't believe her previous thought. She had admitted to herself that she held feelings of ....... love. It seemed to boost her. Her sapphire, blue eyes began to glow with a never dying shine of confidence.

"Piplup, take the stage!!!"

Her energy was like no other, sending a stunning pulse to everyone in the audience. Piplup exited its ball in a stunning shower of mist.

"Bubblebeam"

An array of crystal clear balls flew into the sky and formed the shape of a pillar. Dawn and Piplup were enveloped in this hollow pillar made of bubbles. The height of the pillar surpassed the height of the stadium.

"Ice Beam!"

The pillar of bubbles froze almost instantly. It was now a hollow pillar made of ice containing both Dawn and Piplup.

"Now Piplup, jump and use Bide!"

Piplup jumped up to halfway of the pipe-like pillar. It began to charge its bide. Piplups process of charging seemed to hold it in mid air. The light emanating from the bide shone through the pillar, forming an extravagant sea of colours. As Piplup released its bide the ice pillar shattered into millions of ice shards. The colour relfecting off of each shard filled the stadium with a seemingly everlasting effect. In the middle of the stage stood Dawn and Piplup in a bow while the eloquence of the colours shone, creating a resplendant image.

The audience stood in awe for a few seconds before bursting into an all out roar of applause. The sound radiating off of the audience was stiffling.

"What a stunning performance by a stunning coordinator! It flowed so well and ended with a bang!" the commentator announced.

The applause lasted for an endless five minutes. The audience really seemed pumped by Dawn's performance. She began to make her way off of the stage, continuing to wave at the audience.

"That was awesome Dawn!" complimented Ash as he was tightly embraced by a jubilant Dawn.

"Thank you Ash! You really think I did good?"

"Definately"

Ash pulled Dawn into another hug which caused Dawn to realize why she gave an overwhelming performance.

I love him.....

Her performance had such radiance, it had such energy and it was all because of the simple yet impossible puzzle. Love .....

"Umm Dawn? You can let go now."

Realizing she was still holding onto Ash, Dawn jumped away causing her to turn a deep shade of red.

"Hey Dawn are you okay?" asked Ash.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a bit tired from my appeal."

"Well get some rest because you are definately making it to the next round!" Ash said with a thumbs up.

"Thanks," Dawn simply replied as she attempted to hide her still showing blush.

Dawn's confidence channeled on to her following battles in which she used Buneary. She sweeped her opponents and in the finals her technique was flawless.

"Oh my, I don't think I've ever seen a coordinator move so easily through a contest!" commented the announcer, "Your winner of this contest is, Dawn Berlitz! I do believe it his her fifth ribbon so don't go anywhere because you'll be seeing her in the Grand Festival!"

The audience burst into another deafening applause. Dawn accepted her ribbon and waved a few more times to the audience before making her way off stage.

"Great job Dawn," complimented Brock.

"Thanks Brock," replied Dawn with a joyful smile on her face, "Ash I did it!"

"Yeah, you did great Dawn!", said Ash as he was smothered by a hug from Dawn.

Her hair is so smooth. Too bad this can't last longer. Hey! Why am I thinking like this, thought a dense Ash.

As their hug ended Ash and Dawn both looked at the floor, trying to hide their blush from each other.

Realizing the awkwardness of the present situation, Brock decided to break the silence, "Hey Dawn, why don't we go to a restaurant to celebrate?"

"I'd love to Brock, but I think I'm a bit tired. Can we go back to the Pokemon Center instead?"

"Sure, but I'm going to head over to a few stores to stock up on supplies. You guys can go on ahead."

Ash and Dawn went in the direction of the Pokemon Center while Brock located the nearest mart on his map. He made his way over to the mart and went inside. The first thing that caught his eye was the cover of a coordinators magazine. On the cover was a picture of Dawn performing her appeal in her recent contest. The headline was "Dawn Berlitz : A Rising Star?"

The cashier noticed him looking at the magazine and said,"My daughter is a big fan of her. She saw her contest today and was dying to meet her."

"Dawn's that famous?"

"Apparently. My daughter says that all of her friends would love a chance to meet her."

"Interesting"

Brock bought the supplies he needed as well as a copy of the magazine and started to walk back to the Pokemon Center. After a few minutes he arrived and went inside. He found Ash sitting on a sofa watching a tv in the lobby with a worn out Dawn resting her head on his shoulder. As Brock made his way over to the sofa he dropped the coordinators magazine onto Dawn's lap causing her to wake up. At first she realized that she had been sleeping on Ash's shoulder which she slightly blushed at, but saw the picture of her on the magazine.

"Is that me?"

"It looks like you,"replied Brock, "The cashier said that his daughter and her friends were dying to meet you in person."

"Ohhh that's so cool!" squealed Dawn.

"Open up the magazine and read the article", Ash implied.

"A coordinator from the small town of Twinleaf has begun to rise in popularity as her tendency to perform in contests increases. Her mom used to be a great coordinator in her day and her daughter presumably follows in her footsteps. She has been all over Sinnoh, making a large effort to participate in contests. Today she received her fifth and final ribbon needed to attend the Grand Festival. Dawn is known for her wonderful appeal consisting of a graceful crescendo of events followed by a magnificent finish. Her performance, today, was a pure example of her dazzling appeals. Overall her beauty as well as beauty in her techniques have brought her a load of success. It is rumoured that she is travelling with a trainer we all know who goes by the name of Ash Ketchum, however, we don't know for sure."

"Wow, I'm really that well known?" asked a curious Dawn, "How do they know Ash's name?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," commented Brock, "Ash has participated in many championships over the various regions and has placed quite high. With a title like that his name is bound to pop up a lot."

"Ohhh. Hey guys I'm gettin tired. I'm going to head off to sleep," said Dawn in between yawns.

"I guess we should all get some sleep," Ash said in response.

The group went to their assigned room and got ready for bed. It was close to midnight by the time they got into bed and fell asleep. Dawn, however, stayed awake. Her thoughts beginning to wonder again. She recollected her thoughts from today and was surprised by her feelings. It created a feeling of great warmth inside of her. His black messy hair, his chocolate brown eyes, his warm smile, his confidence and his kindness towards friends. Every detail of him told her that she loved him and as she lay there she drifted off to sleep with the happy thought of love.

A/N: Review please!!!