Harmony grinned as they made it into the city looking around happily, "Ready for the contests Dawn?" she asks her friend.
"Yeah! I am going to win this time I just know it! With Ambipom I plan to win it all!" Dawn says excitedly.
Ash and Kenny had been practicing with Turtwig in order to learn Energy Ball, while Dawn and Harmony practiced for the contest.
"Alright, Ambipom use swift!" Dawn calls out and Ambipom follows through in order to create a dazzling rainbow as a result.
"That's so pretty!" Harmony says in awe as she watches Dawn rush up to Ambipom and give her a poffin along with the rest of her Pokemon.
"I'll tell you rainbow swift was great," Brock points out with a nod of his head.
"You sure gave it your all didn't you?" Dawn asks Ambipom, "I've been thinking, we didn't do very well at the Herathome contest because we got way too involved in double performances, but this time it's just Ambipom and me and we're going to show one move as much as we can!"
"I mean that could work...but you also need to highlight other things too Dawn," Harmony says a bit worried Dawn would do something too drastic and showing off.
"There's nothing to worry about Harmony, Ambipom and I are in sync and are totally going to win this! Just you wait!" she says enthusiastically, "So what do you say we take it from the top!?"
"Thrones of fans have lined up in droves stretching down the street as far as the eye can see, in numbers too massive to even try and count! They're all here to witness today's exciting Solaceon Town Pokemon Contest!" Marian calls out, "And needless to say we're coming to you from beautiful Solaceon Town and we're live!"
Harmony bounces her leg a bit as Alice, her Ampharos cooed at her side nuzzling her to calm her nerves, "Thanks Alice, guess I'm a bit anxious we could be getting another ribbon today and that'd make our three be four," she whispers rubbing the gem on Alice's head.
"The winner of today's contest receives this," Marian says holding up a ribbon, "The Solaceon Ribbon. Our Coordinators are vying to win one of five total ribbons and ear a spot in the Grand Festival!"
"And this wins mine DeeDee," Kenny calls out to Dawn who shakes her head.
"I don't think so, cause the win is mine!" she says determinedly.
"Not if Alice and I have a say in it," Harmony points out with Alice chattering up a bit.
"Alright then, and now it's time for a word from our judges!" Marian calls out as the judges make out their words of encouragement.
"Now without further delay the performance round! And here's contestant number one!" Marian calls out as Kenny races on stage.
He has his Breloom begin with a Stun Spore to show off its sheen. Breloom uses Energy Ball, and after using its tail to send the Energy Ball to the ceiling, Breloom uses Mach Punch on the Energy Ball, making the whole stage and Breloom shine.
The crowd is enraptured, and the Contest Judges pass their compliments on.
"That was really good," Harmony says from backstage, Alice was back in her Pokeball, a seal of purple smoke stuck on it. "I'll see you after Dawn, my turn," she says squeezing the younger girl's arm as she rushed off.
"Alright, Alice! Time to shine!" she calls out tossing out the Pokeball grinning as she appears in the purple smoke sparkling as her own shiny coat shines with it. "Start it off with Dragon Pulse into the air followed by a Charge Beam!" she calls out Alice swiftly pulling it off, the Dragon Pulse exploding into little purple flames into the air.
"That's it, Alice! Great job, now let's use those flames to power up our Fire Punch, make it sparkle!" she calls out as Alice manages to charge up her punch while collecting the falling flames before they burn out causing her fist to turn from a red, orange, and yellow to a more purple and blue flame grinning.
Getting feedback from the judges was great as ever them enthralled by Alice's performance as she stood proudly by her trainer's side, her head gem glowing a bit with each praise. "You did amazing sweetie," Harmony whispers as they headed backstage. "I'm so proud that was a great feat.
"Wow Harmony that was incredible!" Dawn says in awe, "You really are great at this…"
"And don't you dare get nervous or anxious now Dawn, it's still the first round, you'll do fine." Harmony says moving to squeeze Dawn's hands, "Just do your best, that's all you can do, and hope that your efforts make it happen," she tells her friend who nods.
Jessalina was up next and sends Dustox out from her Pokeball and she flies around showing off her shining scales.
Dustox whips up a Whirlwind, and the audience is astounded to see Jessie lifted off the ground. Jessie then finishes the performance by having Dustox use Psybeam, which causes a plume of green smoke. Jessie and Dustox emerge waving to the crowd, earning compliments from the judges for being so in sync with each other.
Next was Dawn, who of course, calls Ambipom to the stage with a Party Seal welcomes followed by a Double Hit, sending shockwaves throughout the Contest Hall. She then has Ambipom begin her rainbow Swift routine. Dawn orders Ambipom to go faster, and the whole stage is covered in Swift stars.
Harmony watched from behind the stage and bites her lip, "She's overdoing it…" she whispers as Kenny glances at her.
"Huh?" Kenny says confused, "I think it's incredible…"
"She's overdoing it, Kenny, it may look really pretty and beautiful, but I can't see Ambipom at all, she's getting lost in the dazzle bit thinking more is better when it's not…" she admits as Alice lets out a sad coo. "Yeah, it's about you guys looking amazing, but if you overdo it and lose that so does the audience and the judges."
When Dawn came back Harmony smiled a bit, "That looked amazing Dawn...but don't you think you may have overdone it a tad bit?" she says softly moving to pat Ambipom's head as Alice and her chatted happily.
"Surprised huh?" Dawn points out as Kenny complimented her as well a bit of a frown forming, "I don't think we overdid it Harmony, I think it was fine the way it was,"
"Okay…" Harmony says softly only to gasp as Ash rushed in practically grabbing her into a hug.
"That was incredible! You showed off Alice's power so much in such a way that worked so well!" he says rather enthusiastically. "I liked how you took the flames that exploded from the Dragon Pulse and used it to power up the Fire Punch! Dawn, you were great too!" he says as he finally let go of Harmony, though kept close their arms practically brushing against each other.
"Aww, thanks, Ash!" Dawn says as Piplup moves to jump into Dawn's arms excitedly. "Piplup that's sweet, so wasn't Ambipom amazing?" she brags.
"Sorry for the delay! But we have a decision! The coordinators that have made it past the first stage!" Marian calls out from the screen everyone glancing up at it with a bit of worry and determination. "And now here are the official results, the eight coordinators moving on to the second stage! And they're on screen!"
As the names and pictures were revealed, Harmony's came first up on the list with Kenny not far behind her and Jessalina had made it in, but when it came to the final name and picture, it, unfortunately, wasn't Dawn.
"I'm sorry Dawn," Harmony says softly.
"What happened?" Dawn says disappointment really lacing her voice.
"Come on…" Kenny says clearly also disappointed that Dawn hadn't made it.
As Harmony kept her eye on the screen seeing who she would be up against the side-eyed Dawn who looked ready to cry again after not making it past the first round, but somehow put up a fake smile, "Congratulations you two for making it on to the second round," she says in a fake cheery voice.
"Thanks, Dawn," Harmony says softly moving to squeeze her friend hand in slight worry.
"Uh Thanks, Dawn…" Kenny says a bit confused about her sudden happiness.
"Come on! Chin up! Don't look so sad!" Dawn says though Harmony was hesitant that she was even taking her own advice in that.
"But Dawn?" Ash asks confused about the quick turnaround of her attitude.
"We're sorry you lost," Brock tells her.
"No need to worry, you know that. I just had a less than great day out there and that's all. Come on Kenny, Harmony! You two got to get ready for the second round!" Dawn says practically pushing the two coordinators out of the room.
"Okay okay I hear ya!" Kenny says shaking his head but smiling, "Root for me!" he says.'
"Now wait a second they're rooting for me too in case you forgot," Harmony points out with a grin on her face. "And I'm determined to win!"
Both Kenny and Harmony make it through to the final, and it's Lynn the Luxio, versus Prinplup. Lynn avoids a Drill Peck and hits Prinplup with a Wild Charge hitting Prinplup straight on. This goes on for quite a few turns almost as if the two are evenly matched, though Lynn has the slight head on Prinplup.
Everyone backstage is rooting for Harmony apart from Dawn, who is now feeling very sorry for herself.
The battle is hard-fought, leading to the time running out and as Lynn is left with the most points, Harmony is declared the winner. Grinning as she takes the stand with her newly acquired fourth ribbon Harmony beams as she, with Lynn and Alice by her side do a small pose winking at the camera.
"That's number four you two, just one more to go!" Harmony says in excitement to her partners who cheer in excitement rushing backstage with her.
Later in the evening, they meet back up with Kenny who was changed and packed up, "You're going already?" Ash says in a bit of disappointment.
"Gotta get ready for the next contest! And of course, you're going to be there too right DeeDee?" he says directing it at Dawn who was lagging behind a bit looking quite sad.
"I don't think so…" Dawn says in a soft small voice. "Not the next one…I guess" she says softly her motivation rather gone after another loss.
"Look DeeDee let's get one thing straight, there's no way I'm going to let you quit contests at least until I have a chance to beat you understand?" Kenny states clearly upset that she was thinking of quitting.
"Okay! No need to worry! I'll be there," Dawn says holding her hands up in surrender.
"See ya," Kenny says nodding at everyone as he turns to leave.
"Take care of yourself," Harmony calls out to him.
"Keep up on that Energy Ball okay Ash?" Kenny calls out.
"You bet, we'll finish our battle next time!" Ash calls out.
"All you think about is battling Ash, can't we just have a nice day hanging out with Kenny rather than thinking about battling him?" Harmony points out with a shake of her head.
"Okay...well….no...I...maybe? I just want that battle!" Ash says with a pout on his lips making her shake her head trying to not laugh.
Harmony heard Dawn's crying through the night and the next morning was rather worried, Chu nuzzling close to Pikachu as he tried calming her nerves down. "You two are too cute, but I'm worried about Dawn...she was crying last night I think it hit her pretty hard," Harmony says softly to Brock and Ash.
Piplup had come out but still without Dawn minutes later was making their entire group anxious. A part was missing from it and they could tell it was off.
"I saw the whole thing on TV!" the loud voice of Zoey calls out a bag being set next to Harmony as they glance up.
"Zoey!" Harmony says, "Thank goodness, maybe she'll listen to you more than me..she brushed off my assessment of it being too much when we were waiting for results...I don't think she understands it all."
Zoey shakes her head, "Of course you know the problem, I saw that too. Ambipom got lost in the swift...it was over the top…"
"And with that, the judges got overwhelmed." Harmony finishes with a sigh.
Zoey finally managed to get Dawn out of bed and asks her for a battle, and to partner with Ambipom based on the previous day's appeal.
As requested, Dawn orders a round of rainbow Swift. As Ambipom is covered with the stars, Zoey then points out where Dawn is going wrong; while the move is pretty and impressive, the flaw is that Ambipom can no longer be seen. She reiterates that an Appeal is meant to show off the Pokémon, like Kenny and Jessie did with theirs.
Zoey then has Glameow use Iron Tail to smash through the Swift, then hits Ambipom with a Shock Wave knocking her back to Dawn.
Zoey reveals to Dawn that she passed on the Solaceon Contest to recharge and regain her focus after losing at Hearthome City. Dawn is relieved and takes on Zoey's advice, deciding to turn this defeat into a chance to learn.
"Sometimes it is better to pass on contests, recharge and regroup to figure out a new thing to do," Harmony says as they start their walk towards the direction of Veilstone City where the next Gym was and where Harmony and Ash hope to win another Gym badge.
"Yeah...you'll help me practice though right?" Dawn asks Harmony.
"Always, you just have to ask and we'll start up prepping. I just want you to think, how can you show off your Pokemon, either it be their moves, skills or just appearance without taking the eyes off of your Pokemon. Sure it's nice to dazzle the air around you, but you need to draw that attention back towards your Pokemon." She explains to Dawn who nods her head.
"Thanks, Harmony, I don't know what I'd do without you and Zoey to point this out," she says softly.
"Think nothing of it, I've been doing this for two years Dawn, even I mess up. It took me five different contests when I first started out to win my first ribbon. I wish I had a mentor like person to help me out. It may be a competition but at the same time it's no fun if everyone else doesn't do well."