Well here is the fifty-third part of the third installment in my 'Heart' series, released earlier because I am somehow ahead of schedule thanks to writing 12,000 words in one day recently. Now I only have 5 more Parts left to draft and only 2 of them are long (8-12k each) Parts, the last 3 are more of a wrap up and set up for Hearts 4 so I don't expect those 3 to be long (3-6k drafts). As such, because there is a short filler Part after this I will be releasing another Part tomorrow and then nothing until the draft is done though even then it will still be weekly until the Supplement (5) and Spinoff (1) are done but none of those is expected to have a draft that exceeds 6k. Anyway, there are some good review questions to respond to, some will also serve as responses to a guest review that asked them, and a question that requires a long clarification answer so sorry for that. Do keep your reviews coming, I love hearing from y'all about my work and onto the answers as best I can give them.
One of the questions asked this week was regarding the ages of Bonnie and Max in this series and to help clarify that, as well as reminding the ages of the main characters so I will do that and explain a bit again to remind people. Because of the more mature nature of the Hearts Series, as well as the fact that there are romantic relationships, it is only appropriate for me to age up the characters. So rather than using a rolling timeline that the show does, I have decided to have every one of Ash's major adventures (Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Battle Frontier, Sinnoh, and Unova) represent one year in his life making him 17 in Dreams. Any character introduced within the first 2 years will retain their canon age, aged up from beginning so Misty is 10 at the start of the show and Brock 15 making them 17 and 22 now respectively. Everyone else, with one exception, is aged up to be appropriate. May and Dawn are 16, a year younger than Ash but chose to start their adventures later. Other characters range between 16 and 17 depending on who they are and where they were introduced so those in the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova are 16 while those in Kanto (including Anabel) are 17 unless they appear older like Cilan, Tyson or Alain and as such are going to be closer to Brock's age in their mid 20s. Similarly Lucy is 22 so same age as Brock. As of right now, Serena and Clemont are going to be 18 (same age as Ash will be) in Hearts 4 while Bonnie has been aged up to be 10 in that series making her 9 at the moment. The only exception to all of this is Max who's canon age works with how I have written him so he is currently 11 based on the system. The 3 OCs (Emily and 2 to be revealed later) are currently 12 (Emily and one other) and 14. Note that this only applies to anime characters, if I ever use another game character their ages will reflect Ash's or something more appropriate regardless of origin. I hope that clears things up, sorry for the long rant on this.
Will we see Dawn face Serena in the future? I won't spoil anything but Hearts 4 is set in Kalos and that is where Serena will be so just wait and see on that front to see if Dawn even meets Serena and if she does whether she chooses to have a mature chat with her regarding her feelings for Ash. All will be revealed in time.
Will Lucas and Brendan appear? As with many things you will have to wait and see if I include them and if I do why because for the most part I am not including game characters unless, like with Janine, they are needed for something. However, if they do appear, they will not be used in used in any romantic capacity with anime characters, requited or unrequited. This is because when it comes down to romantic pairings or crushes, the few I do use, I only use ones that are either confirmed in the canon (e.g. Kenny, Angie, Anabel), are basically canon to the point that I consider it to be canon (e.g. Misty), or are heavily implied by at least one key moment or a series of interactions (e.g. May, Zoey Conway). There will be 2 potential exceptions to this but only because of them being impossible in the canon.
Can we see some more of Ash's romantic side like with the locket? Yes, here will be more of this but not until Hearts 4. We are currently nearing the finales so that is the focus of series for the moment though there will still be some pearls here and there so don't worry about that.
That is all for this really long pre Part note. Please, sit back and enjoy the latest installment in Dreams Come From the Heart. Part LXV: Qualification Requirement.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Part LXV: Qualification Requirement
It was finally time for the Cremini Town Contest and Dawn was fully in the zone for it. She hadn't been this hyper focused in a Contest since her time on the Johto Circuit almost a year ago. Even the Cerulean Contest when she was focused on the first ribbon she'd been a little nervous at it was her first Kanto Contest, as well as a little wary after her loss to Ursula. Now though, Dawn was solely looking at the prize, the Cremini Ribbon.
It was going to be her final ribbon of the season. With it Dawn would qualify for the Grand Festival. She had hoped that the Gardenia Town Contest would be that last Contest but Mollie had denied her in a great final and proven herself one of the few dangerous rivals to Dawn this year. That wouldn't be the case now and Dawn knew it.
Mollie was already qualified for the Grand Festival with her win in Gardenia Town. Nando and Kenny had already qualified prior to then. The only other person in Kanto who Dawn knew had a shot at beating her in a Contest was Ash, he'd proven it this year, and he was not in this Contest. He was in the front row of the stands with Anabel, Piplup, Pikachu, Buneary, Vulpix and Espeon watching and supporting her today. There was no one to stand in Dawn's way today.
She knew it was a little arrogant of her to be like this but she couldn't help indulging it for this one Contest. She was one of the favorites and so long as she got past the appeals, and she was sure that her routine with Banette would get her past it, despite it being different to her usual style, Dawn was good. That was because Spiritomb was going to make his debut as her battle Pokémon.
The Forbidden Pokémon had joined Mamoswine and Typhlosion as one of Dawn's powerhouses. They were strong Pokémon that knew how to battle and could look good while doing it. The later had taken a while to get down but Spiritomb had picked up how to look good when he battled and Anabel assured Dawn that he loved to show off for her.
He'd really taken to Dawn for freeing him of his hatred when she removed him from that cursed place and while his mischievous streak persisted, he was getting more loving as the days went. That didn't make him any less intimidating and Dawn intended to exploit that when she debuted him. Surprise was good ally in battling and these days few did it better than her, except maybe Ash.
Because of this Dawn wasn't focused on her competition as she went over her routine one final time and made sure she had everything she needed. She was so focused on her preparations and being ready that she didn't notice one of the other coordinators recognizing her and trying to get her attention. It was time to win and Dawn was up 3rd out of the 15 coordinators present so she was up soon.
In fact, as soon as the first coordinator finished Dawn grabbed what she needed and headed out of waiting room and to the wings so that she was in position. She was ready, she was going to bounce back from her last Contest and she was going to dazzle the judges. They'd need sunglasses for that part. It was time for her latest appeal.
"Next up we have a coordinator who you all know well." Lilian was saying into her mic as the recently finished coordinator left and walked past Dawn without a word but that was normal for all coordinators. "She's considered the top favorite this year for the Ribbon Cup despite her recent upset in Gardenia Town last month. She's also the only one of the four major favorites to not qualify for the Grand Festival yet but she has 4 ribbons this year so this would be her 5th if she wins today. You all know her as the Prodigy of Sinnoh, from Twinleaf Town, it's Dawn!"
Dawn walked out to cheers from the crowd, smiling as she looked over to Ash, Anabel and all the Pokémon, all dressed up, cheering just as loud for her. Dawn was glad that she had Ash in her life, as well as friends like Anabel who she'd made this year. Dawn was going to show them what their support meant for her but first she needed to do something a little different as she didn't walk directly to her starting point but right to Lilian with a bag in her hands.
"You and the judges will need this later." Dawn said simply as she handed the bag to Lilian who looked at the contents, 4 pairs of cheap but effective sunglasses, with confusion. "Trust me."
"Well this is out of the ordinary for Dawn." Lilian said as she passed out the shades to the confusion of the judges while Dawn took her place in the starting area. "But it's not against the rules so let's see what Dawn has in store for us this time."
"Something contrasting for sure." Dawn said as she pulled out her Poke Ball. "Banette, spotlight!"
Dawn threw out the ball and the Marionette Pokémon burst forth and unzipped his mouth as he laughed before zipping it up again to a few gasps from the crowd at the ghost type. Without a word, Banette flew to the other side of the stage and turned to face Dawn so that she could begin her appeal, ignoring the crowd as he did.
"Well that wasn't the Pokémon choice we were expecting from Dawn." Lilian said clearly surprised at the ghost type but if Banette shocked her then she was in for a huge one later as Dawn pulled out her props. "What's this? Dawn's really changing it up today."
Dawn didn't say anything as she put the baseball mitt on her left hand and pulled the baseball out of it. She'd bought it when she and Anabel had gone shopping the other day to find something to hold her Ability Symbol, which was now nestled into a special leather band she was wearing on her upper right arm so that the world could see it. The baseball and glove was for the appeal though. Dawn was always looking for new ideas to mix things up and Mollie had given her one with her use of props in her appeals.
"Time to play catch Banette." Dawn said pulling out the ball and winding up for a throw. "Hit this back to me with Feint Attack."
At that Dawn threw the ball underarm at him. Banette just laughed as he tracked it with his eyes and then attacked, flying right to it and using the dark type move to punch it back to Dawn, with a lot mor accuracy then she had thrown it with. Banette's moves weren't as good for appeals as Dawn would have liked but Mollie had given her the inspiration to use props to accent them and Banette really wanted to be in an appeal so she was going to do it for him.
"Again." Dawn said with a smile as she threw the ball once more. "Feint Attack! Let's keep this up Banette."
She and Banette did that, throwing and catching the ball 5 more times, never missing a single one as the crowd cheered the sudden game. When that was done Dawn moved onto the next part of her appeal where she showed off Banette's power.
"Stay there and use Hex." Dawn called out dropping the mitt and ball at her feet. "Show off how relentless you are!"
Banette didn't move but he did attack. He had been practicing this move to show it off and even without an opponent so he could do it with ease now. He just used the air and his arms to show off the relentless nature of a Hex attack right in front of the judges as he floated there. Dawn grinned, she knew it looked good and it was time for the grand finale.
"Alright get high Banette, it's time for the shades." Dawn said pulling out a pair of shades from her pocked and putting them on, Lilian and the judges quickly doing the same realizing what she was about to do. "Dazzling Gleam!"
Instantly Banette glowed with the dazzling normal type attack. Without shades it was just a bright flash of light but with shades Dawn could see her ghost type Pokémon glowing and smiling as he showed off how attractive he was while also using an attack that would both cause damage and wasn't commonly associated with a Banette. The shades had been needed so that the judges could see Banette as he was meant to be seen.
Alas the crowd couldn't as Dawn couldn't let them know her intention. Well most of them couldn't. Ash and Anabel knew and had been prepared pulling on shades for it, as did Piplup, Pikachu and Buneary while Ash and Anabel helped put a pair on Vulpix and Espeon during Hex in preparation for it as they didn't have the necessary body types to do it on their own.
When the move was over Dawn removed her shades, as did the judges and Lilian, and gave them a curtsy as Banette floated down and bowed to them before turning and flying to Dawn and embracing her in a hug, something he'd really taken to doing now that he had arms. Dawn smiled as she hugged Banette back, it had been a good appeal and she was sure that she would advance, depending on what the judges said of course.
"That was not what we've come to expect from Dawn but any great coordinator can adapt to their Pokémon so that they shine in an appeal and we all know how great Dawn is." Lilian said as she recovered. "But the important thing is what do the judges think of that?"
"A well-choregraphed appeal to show off a Banette in an unusual fashion that really worked." Mr. Contest said with a nod. "And the providing of sunglasses was a nice touch so that we could properly enjoy that Dazzling Gleam and see how strong Banette is at the end. Well done."
"Yes, simply remarkable." Mr. Sukizo said as always.
"Banette is really happy and with you it looks cute and not scary like they normally do." Nurse Joy said with a small smile. "No easy feat with that Pokémon. It clearly loves you Dawn."
Dawn just smiled and curtsied again before returning Banette and leaving the stage. She had done well and she knew it. All that was left to do was watch the other appeals and wait if she advanced to the battle round. She was so focused that she didn't see the next coordinator waving at her as she passed and returned to the waiting room.
"And congratulations to these 8 coordinators who have advanced to the battle round." Lilian said as 8 pictures appeared on the screen. "As well as to all of our coordinators who came out to compete today."
Dawn looked at the screen and smiled. As she had expected, but was still slightly worried about, she had advanced to the battle round as she saw her picture was the second one on the top row that was currently shown on the screen. Good, she was just 3 wins away from the Grand Festival and she had an ace up her sleeve for that.
"And this will be the bracket." Lilian said as the pictures flipped over, shuffled and fell to the bottom of the screen before the bracket appeared connecting everything and the pictures flipped back to the coordinator's faces. "Will the first two please make their way to the stage."
Dawn saw that hers was again the second picture meaning that she was in the first quarterfinal and instantly headed to her starting spot, a weedy looking guy also leaving the room. Dawn wasn't focused on him or anything else she was here to win and that was what she was going to do. That was why she was a little startled when he spoke to her as soon a few moment later when they were in position and before Lilian could announce the start.
"Let's skip the pleasantries, I already know who you are Dawn." He said in a reedy voice. "And I don't care if you're supposedly the best, I'm still going to beat you. Medicham, focus."
Dawn blinked in surprise as her opponent sent out a Medicham and was already ready to fight as it stood on one leg in preparation for the battle. It was a little rude but she didn't mind, she was a little tired of Lilian's hyping of her but this guy was just as annoying. He was going to try and use force to beat her but he'd just chosen the absolutely worst Pokémon to face Dawn in this Contest. Medicham was a psychic and fighting type, a type that had almost no chance against her Pokémon.
"I don't mind but I do hope that that Pokémon knows more than fighting or psychic type moves, or normal for that matter." Dawn said simply as she pulled out her Poke Ball. "Or else your only hope of winning is dodging me the entire battle."
"I don't need non type moves." The other coordinator spat clearly annoyed at what Dawn was saying. "They balance each other out so do your worse, it will look even better when I beat you."
"I did warn you." Dawn said with a sigh, she didn't want to do this but she'd registered her Pokémon so she had to use him as she pulled out her Poke Ball and threw it. "Spiritomb, spotlight."
If Banette's appearance had shocked the crowd, Spiritomb's, and his maniacal laugh at coming out to battle stunned them to silence as he hovered in front of Dawn. She just gave the stunned coordinator an apologetic look as he now looked a lot less sure of himself.
"That, that is not what any of us expected." Lilian gaped staring wide eyed at Dawn's Pokémon. "I've only ever heard of that Pokémon, and only then in scary stories which don't do it justice. That's the second most surprising Pokémon all year behind that Porygon2 that showed up in the Wallace Cup and has to be the first time it has ever been used in a Contest."
"Oh that Porygon2 was my boyfriend's." Dawn said helpfully. "And Spiritomb here is big softy now that I have caught him."
"A ghost type, well I still have psychic moves, they will work." The coordinator said as Spiritomb continued to laugh despite Dawn's claims to his nature. "You're still going down."
"Actually Spiritomb is also a dark type." Dawn said helpfully as she watched the color drain out of the man's face. "I don't like winning like this but I have to use the Pokémon I registered and you're attitude wasn't respectful so this is the point we're at."
"Er, begin." Lilian said weekly and the timer started to avoid any more trash talk.
"Alright let's start this off with…" Dawn said as the battle rounds began deciding to end this lopsided one quickly and cleanly to avoid looking too bad with the mismatch.
After that it was pretty smooth sailing for Dawn in the battles. The weedy guy who had wanted to overpower her learned the error of his ways as Dawn beat him within a minute. She did feel a bad about that but the types just weren't on his side and he couldn't get a hit. He also refused to forfeit when he really should have so Dawn was forced to battle him. it wasn't pretty and she apologized to everyone for it which helped as they knew she felt terrible about it.
After that she faced someone who was much better prepared and more respectful of the Contest process, even complementing her on catching a Spiritomb and having such a good Pokémon on hand. He was using a Golbat with an impressive move set. He even landed a few hits on Spiritomb but in the end Dawn had a decent chunk of points on him and advanced to the final, again.
As she waited for the other semis to finish she went over her plan of attack for it. She knew she had the advantage but she had to be fully ready for it. The Grand Festival was within her grasp and this time she wouldn't let it slip through her fingers.
The sound of a Battle Off and an angry coordinator storming off snapped Dawn's attention back to the final. The coordinator who had lost was on her side and walked past Dawn as she stormed off clearly upset at the loss. Dawn just shrugged and walked out to face her finalist and almost stopped when she met eyes with the familiar looking woman with reddish brown hair and wearing a pink polo shirt and blue pants that ended 3/4rds of the way down her legs standing on the other side.
"Hey Dawn, been trying to talk to you all day but you were so focused until now just like your mother would get when she had to do something." She said as Dawn approached her starting position. "So the final is as good a time as any for this."
"Noelle?" Dawn asked stunned at her family friend on the other side of the battlefield. "What are you doing here in Kanto?"
"Oh you know, traveling Kanto, learning new things, competing in Contests when I can, the usual." Noelle said with a shrug. "Spent last year learning in Sinnoh and now I'm setting out on my own to really find myself."
"That's great." Dawn said with a smile. "Do you have any ribbons?"
"2." Noelle said with a nod. "So I'm not expecting to be able to compete this year but I'm going to spend another year in Kanto to get the last 33 and reach the Grant Festival. Your mom has taught me well but it's been slow going as I am still getting the hang of Contests."
"A good idea to take it slow then, it will make you better in the long run." Dawn said. "And you get to be the last person I face to get to the Grand Festival."
"Ha not if I have anything to say about it." Noelle replied with a short laugh. "We've both learned under Johanna so I know your style."
"I did learn under my mom but I've grown a lot since then." Dawn said grinning at Noelle. "I've learned a lot more from others like Ash and Brock so I've changed a lot since Sinnoh."
"I'll be sure to inform your mom about that when I return to Sinnoh after this." Noelle said. "I'm heading back to Twinleaf Town to see her after this before she comes to Kanto for the Grand Festival. She will want to watch you in it, I'm sure of that."
"Good then you can tell her how much better I am." Dawn said confidently. "Not that she doesn't know after seeing me in the Wallace Cup, if not the other Contests this year."
"Well you certainly have new Pokémon that I didn't expect you to have." Noelle said. "I think Johanna will be surprised with that Banette of your, to say nothing of your Spiritomb."
"Probably but a good coordinator can use any Pokémon for any purpose." Dawn said. "And I'm one of the best right now."
"That you are so I look forward to beating you to show just how far I have come." Noelle said confidently as she withdrew her Poke Ball. "So why don't we get this started."
"I agree, I have a Grand Festival to qualify for." Dawn said pulling out her own Poke Ball. "And you have an upset to try for."
"That's what we love ladies." Lilian said into her mic reminding them that she was still there. "Two feisty competitors ready for the final and this is an interesting one as both out finalists are from Twinleaf Town out in Sinnoh. One is an up-and-coming coordinator with two ribbons to her name, the other is none other than the Prodigy of Sinnoh herself going for her 5th and in her now record tying 16th straight Contest final, including 2 Grand Festivals in that streak. It's Noelle and Dawn."
The crowd went wild at this but the girls ignored it as they locked gazes in preparation for the final. This was it, Dawn's 5th ribbon was once again on the line and this time she was not going to lose, or crash into a wall in the process. This time she was going to get that last ribbon.
"Begin!" Lilian yelled and the clock started.
"Spiritomb, spotlight!" Dawn yelled tossing her Poke Ball in the air.
"Bellossom, stun us!" Noelle said throwing her own ball out.
Dawn grinned as the Flower Pokémon burst forth and landed on its grass skirt leaves in front of Noelle and swayed slightly. It was Noelle's best Pokémon and the one that Dawn knew well. It was also a Pokémon she'd faced before, with Spiritomb no less, and knew a lot about thanks to Erika and her own research as it was one of Gloom's potential evolutions. Dawn had to know a lot about it before Gloom made her choice a while back so this made the battle straightforward for her.
"Keep that Spiritomb in check with Petal Blizzard!" Noelle ordered.
"Bella." Bellossom said as it shook its head and a series of pink petals shot out in a blizzard formation, a move Dawn knew well thanks to her, now former, Gloom which had kept it upon evolution.
"We know how to deal with that Spiritomb." Dawn said with a grin as the petals closed in on them. "Phantom Force."
"What's that move?" Noelle asked as Spiritomb laughed and vanished before the petals reached him registering a miss as they filled the stage but the nature of the move ensuring that Spiritomb took no damage.
"A little delayed move similar to moves like Dig and Fly." Dawn said simply. "Useful against an area attack like Petal Blizzard as it avoids it."
"Keep your eyes open Bellossom." Noelle said as her Bellossom looks around warily at that. "And use Grassy Terrain just in case. That will help us in this battle."
"Bella." Bellossom said as it held out its arms and grass type power shot out into the ground as the petals died down.
Instantly the earth of the battlefield turned into a grassy field with the move. Dawn wasn't sure what it would do but it was likely something that would boost grass type moves or Pokémon with that type, which given the fact that there wasn't much more than grass type moves that Bellossoms could learn was a boost for Noelle. Dawn would find out in a moment what it did as Spiritomb chose that moment to appear right in front of Bellossom, causing it to scream in surprise, and slam into it face first knocking it back as he cackled the entire time.
Bellossom looked annoyed but it was only regularly affective and instantly Dawn watched as it started to regain health from the ground. It wasn't much but it was some. That explained what the move did, good to know.
"Bellossom, Stun Spore!" Noelle ordered. "It has to be close enough."
"That's Bellossom's best move, backflip out of the way to avoid it Spiritomb." Dawn said quickly. "Don't let it touch you."
Spiritomb instantly flipped back, an oddly graceful sight that he'd been practicing, as he somersaulted away from the cloud of orange powder that shot out of the flowers on Bellossom's head. It was close but it missed and Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. Spiritomb was good, there was no doubt about that, but he had no way of avoiding status problems and while he could still fight with paralysis it would have been annoying to deal with. Of course Noelle wasn't done yet.
"Sludge Bomb." She ordered showing that her Bellossom knew at least one non grass type move as Bellossom shot out the balls of purple poison sludge from its mouth at Spiritomb.
Spiritomb was still flipping away when they struck him. He wailed in pain and crashed into the grass, disappearing into his keystone for a moment as he rolled across the battlefield. It wasn't that effective but it still hurt and Dawn lost a few points from it.
Spiritomb reappeared from his keystone and floated up annoyed at getting hit by what looked like a sentient flower with an attitude problem. Then there was the tell-tale sign of grass type power shooting up from the grass and into Spiritomb to heal him a little from the attack. He grinned at that as everyone else, including Dawn, gaped at it.
"Spiritomb's ability is not Levitate?" Noelle asked confused. "But it floats? Most ghost types haver that ability because they float."
"Apparently not which rules out that as his ability." Dawn said just as confused, she actually had no idea what Spiritomb's ability was. "If it's not Levitate then I don't know what it is or what just happened there."
"Grassy Terrain lasts for a while and restores the health of all grounded Pokémon in the battle." Noelle explained. "Only a little but it can be the difference in a battle even if it benefits my opponents. Flying types or Pokémon with Levitate or other similar abilities aren't grounded. All others are considered grounded. I had assumed that Spiritomb had Levitate, it is why I used it."
"Well then I guess Spiritomb is grounded then." Dawn said as she grinned. "Now let me repay you with some poison of our own and show why the unique nature of Bellossom's evolution can be a disadvantage in certain situations. Toxic."
Spiritomb cackled and looked at the ground around his opponent's feet and turned it into a purple mess that bubbled up and hit Bellossom. Instantly it was poisoned, a purple line appearing under its eyes as it cried out in pain as the poison rocked its body and did a lot of damage due to Bellossom being a pure grass type. Some of it was offset by the Grassy Terrain but not enough.
"Finish this with Dark Pulse." Dawn ordered knowing that there wasn't much left with Bellossom, a poisoned grass type had a limited amount of time before it fainted and Dawn had enough time left in the battle to ensure that.
"Dodge and use Petal Blizzard." Noelle countered.
Impressively Bellossom was able to leap out of the way of the black dark type attack that shot out of Spiritomb at it and roll away, screaming as the poison rocked it again but still getting up and launching the pink petals right at its opponent. This time Spiritomb couldn't avoid it and the maelstrom of petals that hit him. However it didn't matter, Dawn knew she had this match, as did Spiritomb.
"You can hold out Spiritomb." Dawn said encouragingly to her Pokémon. "Just a moment longer and we have won."
"Bella." Bellossom yelled as the poison hit it again and Dawn grinned, that was it.
She watched as Bellossom passed its limit and fell face forward onto the grass. The petals died down again and the grass wilted back to earth with Bellossom's defeat and defeated it was. It's eyes were clearly swirls and the Xs went off to confirm the Battle Off. Dawn had won.
"And with a minute to spare Dawn has won the Cremini Contest by Battle Off." Lilian declared as the crowd began to cheer. "And with that she has qualified for the Grand Festival as this is her 5th Ribbon!"
"We did it Spiritomb." Dawn said as her Pokémon flew over to celebrate his victory with her.
With Spiritomb's body it wasn't the easiest thing to do but Dawn hugged the keystone and Spiritomb laugh, his swirling projecting spinning around her face to show that he was happy. It was certainly better than his last attempt at hugging her that had ended up bruising her sternum.
Dawn and Spiritomb celebrated for another moment before she had to get on with the Contest. Letting go of the keystone and walking around him so that he would follow, Dawn walked out to the center of the battlefield where Noelle was already waiting for her having recalled Bellossom in the wake of her defeat. Dawn reached her old friend and offered her her hand which Noelle took and they shook.
"Well done Dawn, you really have come into your own as a coordinator." Noelle said with a smile. "Johanna would never have employed a strategy like that."
"My mom taught me well but I've found out who I truly am over last few years." Dawn said smiling back. "And that was a good match, though Bellossom might not be a great choice for battles."
"He's fine against most but you showed me that there is more out there to consider for battles." Noelle said. "I think he's a little limited with the grass moves so we're going to work on that, as well as broadening our roster for next year."
"That is a drawback of evolving a Gloom into a Bellossom." Dawn said. "It loses its poison typing in the process so poison type moves like Toxic become super effective against it. There are benefits like gaining ground resistance and losing a weakness to psychic type moves but the tradeoff is losing resistance to fighting and becoming weak to poison type moves."
"I see my Gloom wanted to be a Bellossom so I let him choose it when the time case." Noelle said simply. "He's great in appeals but battles are hit or miss I guess but he wanted the practice in them today so I opted to use him in the battle."
"Bellossom is certainly a great appeal Pokémon but probably not the best battle choice." Dawn agreed. "Vileplume is likely the better evolution for that though moves and the Pokémon's personality play just as much a role in battles as typing does."
"You know a lot more about Bellossoms and battles then you used to." Noelle noted. "Any reason why?"
"The first Pokémon I caught in Kanto this year was an Oddish." Dawn explained. "She evolved into a Gloom early in our adventure this year. When we reached Celadon City I had already developed a decent repour with Erika due to an issue delaying us in Lavender Town and she loved my Gloom so she gave me both Evolutionary Stones. After my loss in Gardenia Town, which Gloom was my Pokémon for, she decided to evolve so I let her choose which she wanted. The battles are just a byproduct of spending another year with Ash."
"I see that does explain it, evolving a Gloom requires knowledge of both potential evolutions and letting it chose which it wants." Noelle said with a nod. "So what did she choose?"
"Watch the Grand Festival to find out." Dawn said with a grin. "I'm keeping it a secret until then so that no one knows. She's even back at Professor Oak's ranch right now as I needed space for my new Vulpix when I got his egg and she and Pinsir are a pair so it made sense to send them back for a bit to relax."
"Ha alright well I will watch it closely, you're in it so how can I not." Noelle said with a laugh. "Now get your last ribbon Dawn."
"Thanks Noelle." Dawn said as Noelle turned and left the stage so that Dawn could have her moment.
Dawn then turned to a waiting Mr. Contesta, letting Banette out in the process, and walked over to him. In his hands was a tray with the Cremini Town Ribbon resting on a small piece of fabric.
The ribbon was different to what Dawn had seen before. The gold seal in the center was standard, the design likely something to do with the town, but the ribbon portion was a design Dawn hadn't seen before. It was in a pure cross design, with equal length bands of lilac ribbon located at the cardinal directions of the seal. Oddly lilac was the only color of the ribbon, no colored borders edging it. It looked good and Dawn grinned at it.
"Dawn this is your 4th Kanto Ribbon, and with the Aqua Ribbon you won this year and declared as a one of your Kanto 5 you have now qualified for the Grand Festival." Mr. Contesta said holding the tray up for her to take the ribbon. "Congratulations. I look forward to seeing you on the Indigo Plateau in 2 months' time for the Grand Festival."
"Thank you." Dawn said with a small bow before she picked up the Cremini Ribbon and struck her victory pose, Banette and Spiritomb posing behind her as she did. "Alright the Cremini Ribbon is mine, all mine!"
Dawn just smiled as she held the ribbon to her chest and the crowd cheered, Ash loudest of all and smiled at him. She had won her 5th ribbon and for the 3rd year in a row she was going to go to the Grand Festival. This time she was going to win it. It was time to celebrate because Dawn had won, next stop, Indigo Plateau. The Grand Festival awaited her.
Well that is it for the Contests, Dawn has qualified for the Grand Festival and it is time to focus on that. There will be one more short filler part for travel/continuity that will come out tomorrow and then after that the final two arcs, the competitions, will begin but not until I am done with the draft of Dreams (excluding the Supplement and Spinoff) but I expect those to be done within a week. That is really all I have for now so as always please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time.
Stringdog
