Alrighty! Here is the longest chapter of the fic so far, and part two of the Dawn v Ursula battle! :D.

As with part one of the battle, the battle scenes in this chapter are largely based off of those in DP162 (Playing the Performance Encore), but there's more original writing this chapter. :D.

Oh, a warning. If you have a problem with an overly sensitive, OoC Ash, you might have a problem with this chapter. It's not too overboard, but it's definitely OoC. :P.

This also contains a large amount of marshmallows, due to the lack of fluff in previous chapters. :P.

Anyways, enjoy! :D


As Ash ran up the stairs and reached the first level of the stands, he heard the conversations of various people, talking about the battle, and it didn't sound like it was going well for Dawn.

"Look at her hair!"

"What's happening?"

"Do you see that blue-haired girl? She doesn't look so good!"

Ash tried to continue climbing the stairs, but couldn't stop thinking about Dawn.

"I hope she's alright…" he thought, as he continued climbing the steps. "I bet she's fine. She's done plenty of contests before." He reached the top of the steps and stopped, shaking his head and attracting Pikachu's attention. "I gotta make sure. I'll just have a look."

As he walked up to one of the windows overlooking the contest stage, Pikachu poked Ash on his cheek and said, "Pikapi? Pikaka?"

Ash just nodded and looked down at the contest stage through the window. The first thing he saw was Dawn lying on the ground, her hands over her head, and only one thought ran through his mind. "No. She's not okay."

He peeled her gaze away from the window and began to run back towards the stairs. Pikachu poked Ash again in confusion when he saw they were heading down towards the first level of the stands rather than up to where Brock was.

But Ash didn't seem to notice Pikachu's confusion, and ran straight down the stairs, heading through the stands for the front row.

Dawn lay on the floor, her hands on her head, and not caring that the timer was still running. "It's over. I've embarrassed myself in front of all of these people. Brock has given up. Ash isn't even watching. I don't know why I tried…"

She could hear Mamoswine and Cyndaquil trying to tell her something, and Ursula's confident voice, but zoned them all out.

Then she heard a voice, a more urgent one. She tried, but somehow could not zone this one out.

"Dawn!" it called out. "DAWN!"

"Ash…" she said quietly, lifting her head up to look at him. "Maybe you haven't given up…"

Ash was standing in the front row, leaning over the railing. Dawn could see the brown in his eyes, radiating his genuine concern. Ignoring the confused and shocked looks of the people around him, he continued to yell out.

"Dawn! Get a hold of yourself. You know you can do it! I know you can do it!"

"Pika Pika!"

Ash felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the contest official that he had run into earlier. He looked stern, but his eyes were dancing with amusement. "Young man, you're causing quite a scene, would you please return to your seat?"

Ash turned around. "Oh… Sorry, kinda got caught up."

As he followed the official back towards the concourse, he turned once more and yelled, "Show 'em Dawn!"

When they returned to the concourse, the official turned towards Ash and said, smiling slightly, "I thought I told you to stay out of trouble."

Ash grinned sheepishly. "I had to go help out my friend."

The official laughed. "Just go back and sit down, but don't let me catch you doing something like that again."

Ash nodded and began to climb the stairs again; heading for Brock, while Pikachu just shook his head, wondering what had gotten into his trainer.

When Ash resumed his seat next to Brock, and Pikachu hopped onto the seats in front with Piplup, Brock turned to him and said, "What were you doing? I saw you down in the front row, looked like you were saying something."

Ash scratched his head, remembering the contest official's words. "Oh, just causing trouble."

Brock laughed, understanding. "Alright."

Dawn ran her hands through her hair to smooth it out. It was still sparkling slightly, but she was in somewhat of a daze and didn't notice.

"Ash came down to help me. He didn't give up. He's rooting for me. I gotta do this, if not just for me, for him."

She picked herself up, dusting off her dress and stared towards Ursula, feeling a kind of inner confidence she hadn't felt in a long time.

Ursula was slightly shocked at Dawn's recovery, but quickly changed her expression from shocked to confident and said, "All better now, Dee-Dee?"

Dawn ignored her, and looked at Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, thinking fast.

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil shook themselves off, flattening their fur. Then they faced Dawn expectantly.

"Right!"

Dawn's new feeling of crazy confidence had made her think recklessly, and she thought of something she probably wouldn't have if she was just looking at the situation normally.

"It's just their other attacks that are blocked, they can still move!"

She grinned.

"Mamoswine! Use Take Down on Cyndaquil! Cyndaquil, use Swift on Mamoswine!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil flinched slightly. Whatever order they had been expecting, this was not it.

Ash, sitting up in the stands, watching, flinched too. "Uh-oh! What's with that?"

Brock was just as surprised. "Why do such a thing?"

Ash winced, fidgeting. "I hope I didn't make her want to lose on purpose… I probably embarrassed her, running out like that…"

If anything, Ursula was the most surprised, but she just smirked. "Well, If she wants to lose, she can go ahead. I'll gladly take that fifth ribbon."

Dawn clenched her fists, looking towards Mamoswine and Cyndaquil. "No need to worry."

They nodded, and Cyndaquil jumped to the side, spinning and shooting stars at Mamoswine.

Dawn snuck a quick look at the scoreboard. She was losing points slowly, but if her plan worked, she'd still have enough points left to pull out the victory.

Mamoswine shook off the pain from the Swift stars and put its head down, charging straight at Cyndaquil with Take Down. However, just before impact, Mamoswine jumped and landed in front of Cyndaquil, releasing its energy. The released energy and the Swift collided and engulfed Mamoswine and Cyndaquil in a bright white light.

The light vanished in an outwards motion, similar to the effect of a Poke Ball failing to capture a previously owned Pokemon. The sparkles and light were sucked off of Mamoswine and Cyndaquil's bodies, dissipating with a bang.

Dawn smiled. Her plan had worked. "That Encore is history!"

Ursula gasped as her Plusle and Minun did a double take. "What?"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil picked themselves up, slightly battered but free of the Encore. Dawn grinned at Ursula. "You see? Since Encore only blocks a Pokemon's moves, but not its spirit, all Mamoswine and Cyndaquil needed was a fighting chance to break free!"

She smiled at her Pokemon. "And that chance? It came straight from the heart."

Ursula smiled condescendingly. She was, despite all her best efforts not to be, impressed. She put her hands on her hips. "Not bad. Not bad at all. You used the only moves you could to break free of Encore's hold."

Ash, relieved that the friendly fire was planned and not his fault, jumped up, pumping his fist. "That was awesome! What a great idea!"

Brock was surprised by Ash's enthusiasm, but just shook his head and said, "Yeah, but look… She's almost out of time…"

Ursula grinned. Unless Dawn came up with a new amazing combination soon, she had it won. But, it never hurt to have a little insurance.

She leaned forward. "Charge Beam, let's go!"

Plusle and Minun leaned towards each other, charging electricity through their bodies and channeling it to their paws, creating shiny, electrical pom-poms. Then they threw these into the ground, sending electricity shooting towards Mamoswine and Cyndaquil.

But this time, Mamoswine and Cyndaquil were prepared, and they jumped into the air, dodging the Charge Beam. The electricity released beneath them, illuminating them with light and creating fireworks. Ursula clenched her teeth.

As Mamoswine and Cyndaquil landed on the ground, Dawn said, "If we're going to win, we're going to have to use Flame-Ice. But no need to worry, because you two can do it for sure!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil nodded, and Dawn said, "Cyndaquil, Flame Wheel!"

Cyndaquil jumped onto Mamoswine's back and propelled itself into the air, spinning and shooting flames out of its mouth, creating a spinning ball of fire in the air.

"And Mamoswine, Ice Shard!"

Mamoswine made a ball of ice in front of it, about the same size as Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel, then threw it into the air, where it collided with the Flame Wheel. With a flash of light, the Ice Shard formed a ring of icy chunks around the Flame Wheel.

"Do it!"

Cyndaquil went into a dive, and as it descended, the ice was sucked into the Flame Wheel, but simultaneously pushed out due to the heat, and formed a diamond-shaped container around the Flame Wheel. As it descended, the facets of the ice caught the light from the contest hall and from the Flame Wheel, and it shone as Cyndaquil spun.

"Alright! That's a perfect Flame-Ice!"

As she watched the Flame-Ice descend towards Plusle and Minun, and watched Ursula's incredulous expression ("No way!"), she felt a pang of guilt, picturing Ash in Plusle and Minun's place a day earlier.

Ash, still out of his seat, grinned at Brock. Brock laughed and said, "Dawn might just win this. What do you know? She calls for the perfect Flame-Ice, and it appears, just in the nick of time."

Dawn grinned. It was time to finish what she started. "Cyndaquil, go!"

Cyndaquil released even more flames from its mouth, heating up the ice even more, then opened the vents on its back, shooting flames out of the ice, propelling the Flame-Ice downwards at an incredible speed.

Plusle and Minun, awed by the combination, reacted too late, and the Flame-Ice collided with them, knocking them into the air.

Cyndaquil rolled to a stop on the ground as the flames dissipated.

Ursula gasped, still in shock over the combination, but regained her composure and said, "Plusle and Minun! Use Spark!"

Plusle and Minun spun to a stop in mid-air, then touched their paws together again to create a single glowing electric pom-pom.

"Now Cyndaquil, Smokescreen!"

Cyndaquil leaned back, then shot a large amount of smoke out of its mouth, enveloping Plusle and Minun. In the smoke, they lost their concentration and couldn't maintain the Spark's energy, causing it to implode on them.

As Plusle and Minun fell to the ground, Ursula yelled, "Plusle and Minun! Stay strong!"

"Mamoswine! Use Hidden Power"

Mamoswine's body glowed as it charged up energy, then it shot several spheres of blue light at Plusle, knocking it backwards.

"Now Cyndaquil, use Swift!"

Cyndaquil jumped into the air and spun, shooting golden stars out of its mouth at Minun, knocking it across the floor next to Plusle.

Ash looked at the scoreboard. By this time, Dawn had more points than Ursula. "Wow! They've done it! They've broken down Plusle and Minun's combinations!"

Ursula shook her head out of frustration, then crossed her arms and said, "We're not finished yet! Use Spark!"

Plusle and Minun leaned over towards each other, creating another shining pom-pom. Then they ran this electricity through their bodies, causing them to glow and sparkle.

Dawn clenched her fists. "Get ready, here they come!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil nodded and waited.

Plusle and Minun continued charging the electricity through their bodies, and were about to use the final energy from the electric pom-pom, when suddenly Marian's voice echoed through the stadium.

"That's it! Time!"

Plusle and Minun abruptly cut off their electrical charges, looking surprised. Ursula looked up at the scoreboard, but Dawn was too shocked to look up. She just stared straight ahead, waiting for Marian's announcement.

"And the winner of the final stage is…"

Dawn snapped out of her daze, and quickly looked at the scoreboard. She didn't have enough time to catch a glimpse of the points meters before the board rolled to a new screen. This new screen showed just her, Mamoswine and Cyndaquil.

"It's Dawn!"

Dawn was stunned. "We… We won?"

She paused as the effect of Marian's words hit her. "We won! We did it! Mamoswine and Cyndaquil! We won!"

She ran onto the field and hugged Mamoswine's leg. Mamoswine grunted contentedly, and Cyndaquil leaped up into Dawn's arms. She grinned and gave it a big hug.

"Thanks Cyndaquil! And you too Mamoswine! Thanks to the both of you! I don't even care right now if anyone calls me Dee-Dee!"

Ash grinned, watching as Piplup and Pikachu jumped around happily. "She did it! She won!"

"And now, our head judge, Mr. Contesta, will present Dawn with the beautiful and prestigious Daybreak ribbon for her victory today!"

Dawn watched as Mr. Contesta walked up to her, holding the ribbon on a tray. The moment was almost in slow-motion for her and she took the ribbon from the tray and admired how it gleamed in the light.

"This is it! Number 5! I'm into the Grand Festival!"

She almost didn't hear the question that Mr. Contesta asked her.

"Dawn, I understand this is your fifth contest ribbon?"

Dawn nodded. "Right!"

"That means the Grand Festival is your next stop. We'll all see you there!"

Dawn clasped the ribbon to her heart, beaming. "Thank you so much! I can't wait!"

Dawn walked out onto the center of the stage and turned to face the stands where Ash and Brock were sitting. She grinned as she spun, finishing with Ash's pose, holding the ribbon high in the air. "There's no need to worry, because the Daybreak ribbon is all mine!"

Mamoswine and Cyndaquil hopped behind her, crying out enthusiastically.


After the contest, Dawn changed back to her normal clothes and walked outside of the contest hall. Not seeing Ash, Brock or any of the Pokemon, she figured they were still inside and sat down on a nearby bench. As she stared at the sunset, she brought out her new ribbon and watched the clouds in the sky.

"What a day. I've finally won my fifth ribbon! Although I couldn't have done it without Ash, he gave me the confidence to go through and win that final round. I don't know what I should do to thank him…"

Suddenly Piplup jumped up onto the bench next to Dawn, and she felt Pikachu jump onto her shoulder. She scratched Pikachu under his chin and patted Piplup on the head and said, "Hey guys. Where are the others?"

"Right here," said a voice from behind Dawn.

Dawn turned around and saw her two best friends, and they were both grinning from ear to ear.

"Congratulations Dawn!" said Ash, extending his arms for emphasis.

"That's ribbon number five!" said Brock.

Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder, and Piplup climbed onto the newly vacated spot. Dawn stood up from the bench and grinned.

"Yep! It's all mine," she said, showing them the ribbon. "This ribbon is the best one of all!"

Piplup chirped happily, agreeing with Dawn.

Ash pumped his fists enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'm sure it is!"

Brock grinned at Dawn and said, "That was a great Flame-Ice. Perfect timing. It should come in handy in the Grand Festival."

Dawn nodded. "Thanks!"

She examined her fifth ribbon some more, then looked at the Pokemon on her shoulder. "It's all the way Piplup!"

"Pip-Lup!"

Dawn grinned, and then looked at Ash. "Now it's your turn to win at the Sunyshore gym! You ready for that?"

Ash nodded. "Sure! My eighth badge is waiting for me there!"

Dawn smiled. "And we'll be cheering for you, all the way!"

Brock smiled as he watched the two of them, then turned to Dawn. "I found a nice campsite on the road to Sunyshore City, how about a special meal as a treat for your fifth ribbon?"

Dawn grinned. "Sounds great!"

When they arrived at the campsite, Brock began to pull his pots and cooking gear out of his bag and said, "You guys just leave this to me, dinner will be ready in a flash!"

Ash grinned. "Sounds great Brock. I'll be training!"

He turned to go run out into the field, but Dawn grabbed his arm. "Ash, don't you think you could let up on the training for one day and help me set the table?"

Ash twisted his arm, trying to break free from Dawn's grasp, but she held fast. "Aww… Come on Dawn! We have a gym battle coming up! We have to train!"

Dawn sighed and said, "It won't kill you to help me for once."

Ash was about to complain again, then Dawn's last words hit him. "For once… I guess she's still mad that I embarrassed her like that. I guess I owe her still, I hope she'll forgive me."

Ash acquiesced, saying, "Okay, what should I do?"

Dawn, a little surprised by his sudden change-of-heart, handed him a blanket and said, "Um... Set this out with the Pokemon's food bowls."

Ash nodded and got to it.


After enjoying Brock's special dinner creations, Ash and Dawn were left to clear the table as Brock laid down in his sleeping bag and fell asleep soon after dinner.

Noticing this, Ash and Dawn just shared a laugh at this, recalled all their Pokemon, and cleared the table of dishes. After Ash put away the Pokemon's dishes, he noticed that Dawn was folding up the blanket, the only thing left, and pointed towards a nearby hill. "Hey Dawn?"

She looked up. "Yeah?"

"I'll be on that hill."

She nodded and went back to folding the blanket as Ash walked off to the hill, Pikachu following behind.

Ash sat on top of the hill, Pikachu on his shoulders, just thinking about the day's events and events to come.

Then he felt Dawn approach him, and she sat down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder to help lower herself to the ground.

Ash decided that, now was a good a time as any, and said, "Dawn?"

"Mhm?"

"I'd like to apologize."

Dawn looked at Ash, confused. "About what?"

Ash winced. "I feel really bad about not coming to see you before your final round. And then, if that wasn't bad enough, I ran into the front row and yelled out and embarrass you in front of all of those people. I'll understand if you're really angry at me."

Dawn wasn't sure what to say.

"Does he really think that's his fault? He was the reason I stopped being embarrassed. He's the reason I won the contest."

Ash looked at Dawn, his eyes pleading. "Dawn, I don't like it when you're unhappy. Is there something I could do to make it up to you?"

Dawn looked at Ash straight in the eyes and said softly, "Ash, I'm not mad at you."

"Y-You're not?"

"No, of course not. Why would I be?"

"Well, I caused that big commotion at the contest, and yelled out to you."

"Ash."

"Huh?"

"You're the reason I won that contest. When I was feeling unconfident, you ran in, and gave me the confidence boost I needed to win. I admit, I was sad that you weren't there before the final round, but you can't be there all the time. You're the reason I was able to get up and finish that contest and win."

"R-Really?"

Dawn scooted closer to Ash. "Of course. That meant the world to me."

"You mean the world to me..." she thought.

Ash blushed, but in the light of the setting sun, Dawn didn't notice.

Dawn smiled. Then a thought occurred to her. "Incidentally, what did make you run down and cause all that trouble?" she teased.

Ash didn't answer immediately, looking thoughtful and scratching Pikachu's between his ears.

"Well, I was running up to the stands where Brock was, and I heard people talking about you, saying you looked bad."

Ash paused, noticing Pikachu was asleep and shifting him to his lap.

"I had to go see if you were alright, so I had a look, and you were lying on the floor. So I was worried."

Piplup, noticing the sleeping Pikachu, hopped out of Dawn's arms and sat next to Pikachu, falling asleep as well.

"I had to make sure you were alright, so I ran down and… I guess I just kind of forgot what I was doing and tried to encourage you…"

It was Dawn's turn to blush. Ash didn't notice, he was looking up towards the sky pensively.

Dawn wasn't sure what to say, so she just looked at Ash and weakly said, "Well… Thank you Ash."

Ash nodded, slightly embarrassed that he had told Dawn what he had been feeling at those moments.

Together they sat in silence, watching the sun's slow descent and the last rays of light illuminating the sky above.

Dawn was still stunned by Ash's words. "I can't believe how sweet he is…"

She was jolted out her thoughts by something warm and heavy falling onto her shoulder. She looked down and noticed Ash had fallen asleep and his head was now resting on her shoulder.

She smiled down at him, noticing he was cradling Piplup and Pikachu in his arms as the three of them slept.

"Oh Ash…"

He shuddered slightly, letting out a soft snore, then turned, his head falling into her lap. Pikachu and Piplup rolled out of his arms and landed between Dawn and Ash.

Dawn flinched, aware of his head lying on her bare legs. But then she smiled again, flattening her skirt, and softly pulled him closer to her, and began to absentmindedly stroke his hair with one of her hands.

"I wish I knew what he was thinking. I mean, he's been acting different lately, but I don't know if that's just me."

She looked back over to their campsite, the fire was dying down, casting a soft orange glow on Brock, the two empty sleeping bags and their tent.

"I mean, I can't tell if he likes me, or if he's just being nice… I wish I knew…"

She felt her eyes start to droop.

"I really should be getting to sleep. But I can't wake Ash up… Maybe I can drag him over to the sleeping bags?"

She looked down at Ash again and yawned.

"Or… Maybe… I'll just bring the sleeping bags over here… Yeah… I think…"

She turned and laid down, setting her head on top of his chest. One of his arms found its way around her body, pulling her closer.

"Actually… this is better…"

"Good night… Ash…" she mumbled sleepily, drifting off into dreamland.


Like I said, Ash is a little different this chapter. x). But I kind of enjoyed writing him like that. :P.

As always, please provide input and comments on this chapter. It's nice to know what I'm doing well at, at what I need to improve, so feel free to provide criticism/critique! :)

The gang's off to Sunyshore now! :D

Cheers! :)