After Ash's challenge to the Pewter Gym, he and Dawn were left to decide their next course of action. Luckily, local reports of an upcoming contest drew their attention - one in Mulberry City, which was just west of Pewter City! Ash agreed to put a brief pause on his Gym hunting for the detour. Luckily, he'd been there once before, so the trip to the next city over was a breeze.
Leaving early in the morning, the gang had found their way to Mulberry by lunch time. While registering for the contest was something of a pressing concern, just about everyone agreed that there was no use getting prepared on an empty stomach. A local park was their designated spot for a meal, making use of the leftovers Brock generously sent them off with. A picnic bench sufficed, while the Pokémon merrily ate out of their bowls, nearby.
"I'm surprised the Mulberry Contest is taking place this early in the season," Ash thought aloud, scooping stew into his mouth.
"Hm?" Dawn took a sip from a water bottle, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, it's just that last time - when May was competing - it was the last contest of the season. Everyone was scrambling to get that last ribbon. It was a full house and everything…"
"It could be a change in the schedule," Dawn guessed, idly toggling with her spoon between her fingers. "Having the last contest in the run is a really envied spot for any Contest Hall - at least from what I've read! It's possible a different town or city got dibs this year. Only fair, and all."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Ash agreed. "Works out for you, anyway. Right off the path of Pewter, and with perfect timing, too!"
"And that'll be my first ribbon out of five!"
Nearby, the small crowd of Pokémon was chowing down; most of them oblivious to their trainers' concerns. Garchomp in particular had shaved right through his supply of pokechow and started chewing on his bowl. The pristine plastic wasn't much fun to chew on, he found, nor was it tasty. He spat it out and started to wander. The bench's iron frame looked good for a bite…!
"And you'll be starting off strong!" Ash cheered. "After that, we can… hey, what the!?" The bench he sat on was trembling and starting to give, rumbling under the persistent gnawing of a certain dark navy dragon chomping away at its base.
"Garchomp!" Ash scolded, pressing his palm firmly against the Pokémon's head - not nearly hard enough to hurt, or upset him, but it made the Pokémon freeze. "Man, now we're going to have to explain this to someone… You can't just go around munching public property, alright? It's not fair."
The spacey Pokémon nodded, though Ash couldn't make out whether he was really listening or not. He sighed. "I know this isn't Mt. Silver, where you can just bite a rock anywhere you go… Go and munch on some branches or something, alright? I'll pick you up a proper chew toy, when we stop by the Poke Mart. What'll be able to handle your bite, I don't know."
"Ga-Gah." Garchomp released the framework and wandered off.
Nearby, Pachirisu watched the situation unfold with a buck-toothed grin. Holding a paw to her mouth, she thought briefly before scampering off.
Ash whistled. "That guy… just evolved, and he's back to his old habits."
"You handled him pretty well, though." Dawn smiled sympathetically. "Speaking of handling… I'm still trying to decide who to enter in this contest." She rested her cheek against her palm.
"Pip?" Dawn's pondering immediately drew attention from someone who'd clearly been at least halfway listening. Piplup hopped up, slapping his wing against his chest. "Pip-lup! Piplup!"
"Oh! You want to be in the first one, Piplup?" Dawn turned around.
"Lav!" Quilava stood up from where she'd been eating, gesturing her paws widely. "Quilava!"
"Oh! You do, too, Quilava? I guess it'd be your first one since evolving…"
"Piplup…?" Piplup narrowed his eyes at Quilava, less than amused. "Pip Pip!" Beak turned up, he obviously volunteered himself as the first and best choice.
"Quilav!" The chubby fire-type shoved Piplup aside, igniting her flames into a roaring furnace to show off for Dawn. She clearly wanted a shot at the stage, first!
"Lup!?" Piplup balked, then seemed to fizzle up with anger. He shoved Quilava back.
"Lava!?" Quilava stumbled back, and stared daggers at Piplup. Opening her mouth, she scorched him with an angry Flamethrower.
"Quilava!?" Dawn exclaimed. "That was out of line!"
The flames stopped, leaving a severely scorched, charcoal-colored Piplup. Gritting his teeth in absolute frustration, the penguin looked to be leaking steam before he exploded. "PIPLUP!" A Hydro Pump was fired in retaliation, which Quilava only barely ducked under. In retaliation, she jumped at Piplup, pulling him into what could only be described as a smackdown.
"Guys! Guys!?" Dawn frantically waved her hands. "This is just getting ridiculous! Knock it off!"
Off on the sane and sensible end of the gathered Pokémon, Bulbasaur frowned. "Bulba." Two dark-green vines shot out from his bulb with snappy precision, tangling themselves in the chaotic dust cloud that the scrapping Pokémon kicked up.
In but a moment, the violence ceased. Piplup and Quilava were held up punitively, tangled in Bulbasaur's vines.
"Bulba. Bulb. Bulbasaur!" The veteran Pokémon scolded.
"Thank you, Bulbasaur." Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, I need you two to stop fighting like children, or neither of you are going to compete! Do you understand me?"
Both Piplup and Quilava went pale at the threat, hanging their heads in defeat.
"Pip…"
"Lava…"
"Good." Dawn replied. "Now, if you both want to be part of it, so bad… I'll just enter you both! Quilava, you can be in the appeal round, and Piplup, you can take the battle rounds. How's that?"
Both of Dawn's Pokémon agreed, and were released from Bulbasaur's grip to return to their bowls. All was well for that moment of peace… that was, until both arrived to find themselves short an entire lunch's worth of chow.
"Piplup!?" Piplup's beak dropped at the sight. He frantically looked about for the culprit. Who took his chow, this time!?
"Lav." Quilava poked Piplup's shoulder, then pointed past him.
Over towards the forestry, Garchomp sat, while Pachirisu had Piplup and Quilava's bowls. Piplup's was just about empty, and the troublesome squirrel was tossing pokechow for Garchomp to gobble down, handfuls at a time. "Chi-paaa~!"
"Gah!" Garchomp craned his neck to catch each batch, as if this were a game. Whether he had the same mischievous intent as Pachirisu, it was hard to say, but he seemed content with the free chow.
Piplup, meanwhile, was absolutely steaming. Trembling with rage, he sprinted over, spitting an Ice Beam at Garchomp. "Piiiip… LUP!"
Garchomp swiftly ducked his head and was quickly on the run as he was chased by the furious penguin who continued to spit freezing rays at the gluttonous culprit.
"Piplup!? Knock it off!" Dawn scolded. "Pachirisu, what do you think you're doing!?"
Not wanting anything to do with the crossfire, Pachirisu scurried up the closest tree to stand atop a branch. To her delight, she found several Oran Berries hanging from it! Her eyes turned between the fruits and her running teammates below, and flashed a mischievous grin.
"Chi-paaah~!" Pachirisu chattered, zapping one of the stems to make it drop.
Running from Piplup, Garchomp leapt back to snatch up the fruit with his jowls. "Gahr!" The Mach Pokémon didn't even seem to notice, now, that Bulbasaur had apprehended Piplup a second time. He was shuffling back and forth, munching down the fruit Pachirisu zapped.
"They've made a whole game out of it…" Ash remarked, watching in exasperation.
Pachirisu stopped on the end of the wobbling branch, finding no more fruit to be thrown. With a twitch of her nose, she sniffed around, and smiled widely. "Chiii~!" There was a huge berry on the next tree over! It was an easy jump for the acrobatic little Elesquirrel, and she grabbed the large, pink berry, chucking it down towards Garchomp. "Paaah~!"
"My baby!"
A shrill, unfamiliar voice snagged the whole group's attention. Even Garchomp looked over, shutting his mouth. Consequently, the berry bounced off his head, and into the stranger's arms.
"My poor little Cherubi!" Stepping out from the brush, a girl slightly older than Ash and Dawn cradled what was now revealed to be a Pokémon against her chest. Her long, hip-length swished about as she took a dramatic step back. The white and pink decked teen proceeded to shout. "How dare you!"
"Huh? How dare we what…?" Ash looked back and forth at the scene, trying to make sense of the chaos that'd just happened.
"You!" The girl, who carried something of a valley girl inflection pointed at Ash and Dawn. "Your awful Garchomp almost ate my poor Cherubi! And, like, that Pachirisu!"
"Chi-pa…?" The squirrel tilted her head. She hadn't even realized the berry she threw was alive.
"Oh my gosh, she… Pachirisu!" Dawn scolded. "You have to be more careful! I'm so sorry for her behavior!"
"Yeah, me too!" Ash bowed his head. "Garchomp had no idea, honest! It won't happen again!"
Piplup, meanwhile, cracked a nefarious smirk on his little beak. "Pip-lup!" Piplup scolded, waving an accusatory wing at Garchomp for daring to make that poor Cherubi his lunch!
At which point, Wartortle whacked him in the back of the head for being a snitch. "War."
"Cherubi, my poor baby! What did these mean, nasty, vicious monsters do to you!" Turning back to her apparent enemies, the girl continued. "I've got half a mind to, like, report you to Officer Jenny!"
"Report us for what!?" Ash demanded.
"For letting your brutish Garchomp and nasty Pachirisu make a snack of my Pokémon, that's what!" She soothed the small grass-type in her arms, who was sniffling; looking awfully shook up over the ordeal. Whether it was the scare or her trainer's volatility was anybody's guess…
"We didn't do that!" Dawn argued.
"Chyeah. Whatever. Creeps." Turning her nose up and flicking her hair over her shoulder, the high-strung trainer stomped off back the way she came.
"Ugh, weirdo. Talk about trouble," Ash complained, leaning his elbows on the table. "Garchomp, I need you to be more careful about what you try to guzzle down. You could end up hurting someone. Besides, that was Piplup and Quilava's lunch!"
"You too, Pachirisu!" Dawn scolded the squirrel who had already descended from the tree. Afterwards, she let out a sigh. "Oh, well. It could be worse. It's not like we'll ever see her again."
With that, Ash and the rest perked up. "Right! It's just a fluke. Let's finish our lunch, and then we can get you registered for tomorrow's contest!"
"Gar-chomp!" Garchomp sat back down, chirping his good graces to Pachirisu. He didn't seem all too bothered that he'd just been in trouble. He wasn't eager to eat another Pokémon, but that crisis was behind them.
"Chi-chi-chi!" The squirrel snickered, nudging him with her little paw. It seemed she'd found a new playmate for her antics… unfortunately for everybody else. Ash's Pokémon were shaking their heads in exasperation, while Piplup gave them both a shady side-eye.
The overwhelmingly huge Contest Hall was… surprisingly looking rather empty when Dawn arrived. There were just a couple of hoping contestants in line in front of her, with very few bystanders hanging around. Not incredibly strange, given the contest was tomorrow, but it didn't escape the group's notice.
"It's a lot quieter here than I would've expected," Dawn remarked.
"Yeah, but after all that crap, a minute ago, I won't complain about it." Ash huffed, folding his arms behind his head.
"Piiika," Pikachu agreed.
As Dawn took her place in line, a thick red curtain of hair caught her eye. The next in line spun around. Golden eyes. The Cherubi. The absolute look of shock on her face.
She screamed before Dawn could say anything. "What are you doing here!?" She demanded with a shriek. An accusatory finger was pointed towards Ash and Dawn. "They don't let people who let Pokémon get, like, cannibalized into contests!"
"Guess I spoke too soon," Ash deadpanned. He felt uncomfortably aware of the looks the group was getting. "We told you Garchomp wasn't trying to eat Cherubi." He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Come on, it was an honest mistake!"
Dawn looked around, quickly missing the relative quiet from a moment ago. She was not going to start her contest season like this. She reached out, trying to soothe the girl. "Hey, hey, calm down-"
"Don't touch me, you creep!"
There was an audible smack as the girl smacked Dawn's hands away. The stranger stepped back, holding up her hand as if she'd do it again.
Dawn merely looked down at her hands, watching as her wrists turned ever so slightly pink.
"Dawn?" Ash prompted, fully aware of the girl's temper. "Dawn." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"You slapped me!" the bluenette roared, lunging for the red-haired coordinator only for Ash to move quickly and hold her back. He was suddenly glad he'd bulked up a little. For as petite as she was, Dawn had a lot of fight in her!
"Let her go!" the red-haired girl snarled. "I want an excuse to call Officer Jenny!"
"You hit me first!" Dawn snapped. "But I'll totally finish it!"
"Girls!" Hands on her hips, Nurse Joy stepped between the two, looking at them with equal parts disdain and disappointment. "If you cannot behave, neither of you can be a part of this contest! I will not have the title of 'coordinator' sullied with your lack of decorum!"
Dawn at once relaxed, shoulders drooping. Ash released where he'd held her back, stepping away a bit while she dusted herself off. The redheaded coordinator merely sniffed and crossed her arms.
"Sorry," Dawn apologized.
"As you should be," Joy said. She waited a moment, realized the older girl would not apologize, and shook her head before walking back behind the counter.
The two stepped up the people handling registration and handed their Pokédexes over.
"Oh! Well, Ember, you've just been all over, haven't you?" the boy behind the counter silkily said to the girl Dawn now supposed was a definite rival.
"Ember, huh?" the bluenette muttered under her breath.
"Like, you know it!" She chirped, lighting up like she hadn't been seconds from a black eye or two, moments ago.
The man gave a cheerful nod to Ember, likely pretending he hadn't seen the confrontation from a moment ago. "Well, Dawn, looks like this your first time outside of your home region? I hope Kanto is to your liking! You finding everything fine?"
Hearing the contrast in treatment, Ember looked over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at Dawn, and took her Contest Pass before walking off.
Ember wasn't the only one who picked this up - why was she being treated like a veteran and Dawn like she was some newbie?! - Dawn whirled around after almost snatching her Pokédex back. "I've got it under control, thanks!"
Ash sighed, folding his hands behind his head as Dawn stomped off. "She's a little upset," he said apologetically to the poor registrar. "Hey, Dawn, wait up!"
While he tended to be a hothead and reckless, Ash mused, Dawn was probably the quickest to actually get ready to throw down when it came to disrespect. He had to admire it a little, though; nobody pushed her around!
After walking a good distance away, Dawn stopped, arms crossed but fury mostly subsided.
Ash caught up, putting his hands in his pockets, and cocking his head a little as he circled around her to look her, head-on. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Just. A little angry."
"Maybe some training would clear your mind? It helps me think sometimes," he confessed. He jerked his heads towards the numerous training fields surrounding the Contest Hall.
Standing still for a moment more in silence, the coordinator finally let out a sigh. She relaxed as well. "Yeah. I think that would be good. There's actually something I've been trying with Quilava, but we still haven't gotten the hang of it."
"You don't say…?" Ash hummed, holding his thumb to his chin.
Noticing, Dawn tilted her head. "What is it, Ash?"
Ash snapped his fingers. "Dawn, I'll meet you at the training fields in just a minute! I've got just the guy who can lend a hand."
A quick chat with Professor Oak later; after an awkward walk through the Contest Hall they'd just made such a scene at; and Ash swapped Garchomp back to the lab for another partner. He arrived at the training field soon after, where Dawn was waiting with her Quilava.
"Alright! Whatever it is, Quilava, I'm sure this big guy can help you out!" Ash grinned, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. "Typhlosion, I'm counting on you!"
Out of the ball came the third stage Pokémon who stood on its hind legs, burning flames roaring from the back of its neck. When he spotted Dawn and Piplup, he greeted the two with a wave. Catching sight of its pre-evolved counterpart, though, he did the same, but with a bit more enthusiasm. He hadn't seen Dawn with a Quilava last time, but he had a vague recollection of seeing a Cyndaquil...
Piplup waved back, as did Dawn. Quilava, however, was floored by seeing her peer. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
"Lav…!" She rolled along, pudgy form circling around Typhlosion once to get a full view of him. She then gave him a curious pat, testing to see if he had a similar build to her. Save a bit more muscle, they were nearly the same. Pleased with her findings, she chirped excitedly at the others before looking up at Typhlosion to chit-chat with him.
"I think Quilava's a fan," Dawn chuckled at the scene.
"No kidding," Ash agreed. "Now, what was your issue with Quilava…?"
"Oh, right! Quilava, come here!" Dawn waited for her Pokémon and explained. "We've been working on something flashy and colorful, but we can't seem to get it right. Quilava, you good to show Ash and Typhlosion our hard work?"
"Lav!"
"Okay, then! Piplup, stay put. In case we need to put out any fires."
"Pip-lup!" Piplup squawked dutifully.
"Right!" Dawn pointed towards the practice field. "Let's ignite those flames!"
Quilava somersaulted onto the designated stage, letting flames roar to life on her back. "Quil…!" With some effort, the flames became more voluminous. More notably, they started changing colors. From hot reds and oranges, to pinks, and greens, and blues.
"Oh, wow! Awesome!" Ash cheered. Typhlosion barked his approval, beside him.
The second-stage Pokémon seemed to be exerting a great deal of effort in the process, however.
"Now, let's take it up a notch! Use Flame Wheel!"
Quilava charged forward and tumbled, tucking into a tight Flame Wheel that twisted into a circular pattern. As the attack endured, though, the colorful range in the flames started to die out, until the attack resembled an ordinary Flame Wheel.
"There it is." Dawn frowned. "We found out she could make those colors by igniting her flames hot enough. But she can't seem to concentrate on making them and using a move at the same time."
Quilava came to a halt, whining in frustration.
Ash hummed in thought, then nodded. "I've seen fire light up like that before. But it never lasted, since we weren't really going for looks. Right?" He turned to Typhlosion, affectionately patting his shoulder.
"Typhlo." The fire-type nodded.
"Then, you don't have any ideas…?" Dawn asked.
"...I might. When you're heating up your flames to the max, it's a lot of concentration, I bet. So, maybe she needs to give that fire an extra kick!" Ash pumped a fist. "...I know! What about combining Flame Wheel with Flamethrower? Like Infernape did against Fantina and Paul! That ought to give those colors an extra boost!"
"...Right! Why didn't I think of that!" Dawn beamed. "You hear that, Quilava? Let's try adding in a Flamethrower to turn up the light show!"
"Quilava!" She agreed, tucking in to work herself into another Flame Wheel. Rather than expel an exorbitant amount of effort on colors, she focused on drawing a path.
"Now, add in that Flamethrower!" Dawn commanded, gesturing to the air.
The spinning wheel of flames started to spew extra jets of heat, propelling her off the ground with fleeting bouts of buoyancy offered by Flamethrower. The added intensity made the flames change from yellow to green, and almost blue.
"There it is!" Dawn cheered. "Now, keep at it!"
Flamethrower and Flame wheel filtered into an aqua color before tragedy struck. Propelled at the wrong time, Quilava was thrown off balance and launched through the air. "Quiii…!"
"Quilava!" Dawn exclaimed. She winced, as the small fire-type landed on her rear. "It looked like she was getting it, but lost balance, there."
"Looks like it," Ash agreed. "You saw how much time we spent ironing out the Counter Shield."
Subsequently, Typhlosion approached to chatter with Quilava.
"Ugh! That flippin' move!" Quilava huffed. Finding herself in a larger creature's shadow, then, she looked up, spotting her evolved counterpart. She pouted, embarrassed. "I must've looked pretty stupid over there, huh?"
"Stupid? Nah Not at all." Typhlosion smiled, shaking his head."It was your first try."
That seemed to make the unevolved Pokémon feel a bit better. She stood up. "Can you do a Flame Wheel and Flamethrower? It's...a little scary," she admitted, averting her eyes. "I'm going really fast, and I don't know WHERE I'm going…"
"You know I can! I mean. Uhm. I can." He composed himself, not wanting to knock her ego further.
Quilava gawked. As big as he was, he could! "And you don't go flying through the air or nothing!?" She stomped the ground with her forepaws, flames sending off small showers of sparks in her excitement. "Please show me, please~!" She bore a smile that was mostly just sharp little fangs.
"I definitely remember," Dawn answered. "But we only have until tomorrow… Ugh, this is what I get for being rusty, huh?" She groaned.
"Maybe." Ash gave a sympathetic smile. "But, maybe seeing what Typhlosion can do will give her a head start! You saw his Aerial Ace, back at the league; if there's one thing he knows, it's combining speed with power!"
"I remember!" Dawn chimed. "It was against Nando, right?" She let out a satisfied sigh. "Yeah… if he could set an example for her, I'm sure she could figure it out… Hey, Quilava!"
The Quilava for once didn't rush back to Dawn's side. Rather, she seemed to panic. Trotting around in circles, she chirped worried cries to Typhlosion that Dawn couldn't decipher.
"She's… ignoring me?"
Ash looked over to the duo. He saw a roguish smile on Typhlosion's features and reflected it with his own grin. "Just watch and wait. I think we're about to get our demonstration!"
"Eep! She's calling me! But I'm not ready; if I try again now, it'll just fizzle!" Quilava turned to Typhlosion and bundled her paws in a pleading motion. "Can't you show me first?"
Typhlosion chuckled. "Alright, alright, I'll show you. Watch closely!" Not even thinking to ask Ash's permission - he was that never type of trainer - Typhlosion readied himself for the combination move. He stretched momentarily, taking a step away from his younger peer to perfect his stance.
Typhlosion poised himself, finally jumping up before curling into a ball, roaring flames spewing from its neck and back. He quickly formed a rather huge Flame Wheel attack, his entire body enveloped in heat as it launched forward, rolling through the open field with rocks and dirt torn away from the ground in its presence.
Upping the ante now, he began to fire off a Flamethrower, his mouth spewing more flames into the wheel to fuel it. His body took off from the surface, one stream of heat after another propelling it into the air, acting as if they were buoyancy devices floating it through water, Flame Wheel behaving much the same through the air.
What was more, was that the combined heat of the attacks began to change the hues of the fire, showing hints of violet and blue before the wheel rolled down along the ground. Scorching the earth in its wake before Typhlosion finally came to a halt, skidding along the ground on all fours.
While Dawn watched in quiet awe, Quilava was about to lose her head over it. She hopped in place, sparks crackling all over her back. She saw it now! The feeling of going through the air like that—the speed… it wasn't anything to fear.
It was cool as hell.
"I think we've started something," Dawn giggled, watching Quilava hop around. "Okay, girl! You ready to give it another try?"
"Lava!" She nodded, then turned to her peer, asking something or another.
Typhlosion nodded, walking over to the marked center of the field.
Dawn tilted her head. "He's helping, somehow… Oh, I get it!"
"He's giving her a center to work around!" Ash finished. "We did that, when I trained him up for the same thing."
"Right! Good thinking, guys. Now, let's give it another go!" Dawn commanded.
Quilava obliged!
Becoming a little inferno-ball, she soon added Flamethrower in as well, moving like a little will o' wisp just above the earth. Her flames lit up, turning almost white with hints of blue, green, and purple. She was quickly picking up speed, working a loose pattern around Typhlosion.
"There it is!" Dawn cheered.
The loop continued, with hot flames lifting the colorful pinwheel a bit more with each spin. On the advent of a turn, however, the wheel spun out of control, and in a storm of colorful sparks, Quilava was sent flying with a yelp.
"Quilava!?"
The Pokémon tucked in, expecting a rather nasty landing. Maybe if she stayed compact, it'd reduce the blow! A blow that… she quickly realized was never going to come. "Huh...?" Unraveling, she looked up to find herself in Typhlosion's arms.
The larger fire-type had caught her, grinning. "Careful. That was almost a gnarly spin-out!"
She blinked, then groaned, folding her paws over her chest. Beneath her fur, her face burned bright with embarrassment. "This is ridiculous. I was totally getting it - taking on the turns, just like you! And I THOUGHT I was confident, but then it was just getting so fast… ugh! I feel like a total wimp."
"You're not a wimp," Typhlosion replied. "Confidence is a tough thing to build, y'know. If I could confide in ya…" The fire badger looked around, seemingly scouting for eavesdroppers. "I actually had a lot of trouble getting my own fire going, for a while."
Quilava, who'd practically flopped limp in his arms with frustration, sat right up. "No way. You!?"
He nodded. "I wasn't like, terrified or anything. But, it took me forever to heat up, sometimes. I almost lost a Gym Battle because of it, once. It took some hard work with Ash to get it right, for good."
"That's… unbelievable!" Quilava gushed, sparkles glimmering in her red eyes. "If you had that problem and do what you do, now, then I'll TOTALLY nail my combination, too! Just wait!"
"What do you think they're talking about?" Dawn cocked her head. "She's just been sitting there with him, for the last minute…"
"From the looks of things," Ash replied, "I think he's giving her a pep talk! Typhlosion used to have his own flame troubles, y'know." Luckily, his own Pokémon didn't seem to overhear him.
"He did, huh…? Well, whatever it is, she looks ready to go, now! Typhlosion must've given her a confidence boost." Turning back to her fire-type, who was back on her feet, she shouted. "Quilava! You ready for another go?"
"Quilava!" The badger cheered, exerting a confident blaze from her back.
"Piplup! Pip Piplup!" Piplup squawked indignantly.
"No need to worry," Dawn chuckled. "Once we put in work with Quilava's appeal, we'll move on to your battle strategies! Alright?"
"Lup!"
"I'd say that's when I worry the most," Ash replied. "But we've got all day and night to keep at it! Tomorrow, you guys are going to knock it out of the park!"
Beaming with excitement and newfound confidence, Dawn nodded to Ash. "Right. Let's take it from the top, Quilava! Another Flame Wheel, and keep a clear head!"
Smoke, flames, and sparks of all colors decorated the training field, woven with new techniques and drills for hours to come with the help of Ash, Dawn, Typhlosion, and their comrades. With the Mulberry Contest just a day away, Dawn would have to pull out all the stops!