Well, here it is, the thirty-seventh part of the fifth and final installment in my 'Heart' series on the right day as promised. This is a rare added chapter to my outline as it wasn't there initially and the events of part of it were planned for a later chapter but I felt that I needed a good transition chapter between Ash catching Farfetch'd and Dawn's Galar Contest debut so here it is. It's as typical as they come for these chapters, Ash and Dawn are gearing up for their challenges in Galar starting with Dawn's Contest so it's time to really train hard for them and who knows what could happen during that training. That is all the administrative stuff I have for this Part though there is a guest review to respond to which I will do now. Do please keep your reviews coming as I love hearing from y'all.
To Pearl shipper (guest), ok just wanted to make sure. Yes, there will be a stand alone story in Paldea in the Hearts Universe. The Hearts Series itself will end with Champions, that was the plan from the start and it was done before Scarlet and Violet came out. Instead, and for reasons that will be clear when this story ends, the Paldea story will be a stand alone one set between this and a long off sequel trilogy that I have in mind. I still have no desire to watch Horizons but when the time comes to begin work on the Paldea story I may check it out for research purposes as it is fair game in this story. Read how you want, I've done the same with letting chapters build up to enjoy at a later date so I understand that. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.
That is it for this longish pre-Part note which means that it is once again time to sit back which and enjoy the latest installment in Heart of Champions. Part CCXXVI: Rural Contest Prep.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Part CCXXVI: Rural Contest Prep
"Right, that was a good break and lunch but it's time to get back to training." Ash said with his usual enthusiasm for training as he got up from where he was lying on the grass while Dawn continued to wash up the dishes and cooking supplies, Ash had cooked the meal so it was only fair that she wash up, and headed over to where he'd been training. "We've got work a lot of work to do to get ready for Piers. Farfetch'd, I want to focus on you for a bit, Florges, Rowlet, Meltan, watch and step in as needed. Conkeldurr, Pikachu, get ready to help with feedback and pointers."
"Pika pi." Pikachu said with a nod while Conkeldurr gave a nod of agreement as Ash and his Pokémon headed over to their designated training area.
"Florges." Florges said agreeing with the plan while Rowlet hooted from a perch on her flower and Meltan let out a noise as Florges carried it with her.
"Machamp?" Machamp asked Dawn as she looked over, he and her Pokémon were helping her clean up and with four arms Machamp was invaluable here, plus this helped refine his dexterity so he could broaden his range and thus work in appeals. "Ma, Machamp."
"When we're done you can go over and help out." Dawn said with a smile at her pure fighting type while Malamar grumbled but helped out with the aid of Piplup's Bubble Beam. "Ash asked me to bring you in so that you could help out with Farfetch'd so you can. This afternoon is appeal work mainly and you're not ready for that. Don't worry, you will be in an appeal as soon as we've gotten your routine down, but you're strength will always be battles so we should keep that a focus."
"Machamp." Machamp said with a smile and went back to helping out as he lowered a dish to Popplio who used Water Gun to get the residue off it and allow Machamp to soap it up.
Dawn smiled as her Pokémon worked together to finish the dishes so that they too could resume their own training. They'd fallen into a comfortable and pleasant routine ever since they'd set up camp here and she was looking forward to a strong afternoon session with her Pokémon as her next Contest drew ever closer.
In fact, said Contest was only two days away and they were currently camping only an hour's walk from where it was being set up. The odd nature of Galar's rural Contests meant that things had to be set up in advance. This included a special mobile Pokémon Center complete with accommodation for coordinators and their allowed guest.
The Pokémon Center traveled from Contest to Contest that would be fully ready the day before the Contest so that coordinators could check in and at the same time register for the Contest with time to spare and enjoy the festivities as well. Due to the size of Galar there were several such centers that covered different areas of Galar with a few locations being considered for permanent rural Pokémon Centers as there were more trainers in those areas than expected.
This had been the last nugget of information that Emily had given Dawn to help her prepare for her first Galarian Contest before she and Ash left Wyndon an hour after Farfetch'd had joined Ash's team and right before she and Adam covered their flight from the city. It was a bit ignoble but given how Ash was likely to get mobbed every day if they stayed in Wyndon until just before the Contest they needed to get out and head towards the Contest location ahead of time so that Dawn could focus on training for it while Ash got some training in for his first battle in Galar.
They'd gotten confirmation on that front the day after they left Wyndon after waking up in the camp just to the south east of the city to see that Piers had accepted Ash's challenge so he was looking forward to facing the only dark type gym in the world. That had put the couple in high spirits as they continued to head south east and towards where the Contest would be, Emily's last bit of advice regarding the mobile Pokémon Centers allowing them to plan their base camp once they located the Contest and its setup.
Said base camp was an hour or so away from the Contest and on a high, cool, plateau that overlooked this part of Galar with the set up for the Contest just visible in the distance down in the valley below. There were rolling hills of grass behind them and to the south and east the couple could see high, snow capped mountains.
The mountains were good to see as they would be what they'd have to traversed, either over or through, after the Contest as Circhester was on the other side of them. That would be Dawn's backup Contest if she lost, but even if she won the city would still be a stop off for them on their way to Spikemuth and Ash's battle with Piers.
All that was still a ways off, however, and because of the timing of their departure from Wyndon the couple had a few days to enjoy the cool air of northern Galar, set up their camp, and really get down to some intense training. It was just like normal for the couple, on the road, camping out under the stars, and training as they moved between places only this time it was a few days in their location before going down to the Contest.
As such, with no one else around, not even Pokémon though they did see the occasional flock of bird Pokémon in the air or a few Pokémon that were native to plains in the distance, they could really focus on their battles to come. It was just what the pair needed, time to themselves to get ready without distractions and make sure that everything was in order for the events of their Galar journey.
In that vein, and to really help Farfetch'd improve, Ash had used the special portable Pokémon Transfer System that he'd been given in Kalos to bring in Conkeldurr as his 6th Pokémon for the moment. The reason for this was simple and obvious, Conkeldurr was a fighting type that used a weapon, well weapons, to fight just like Farfetch'd did so he was the perfect mentor in Ash's team. Course Conkeldurr used two concrete pillars not a leek but the concept was similar enough and Conkeldurr welcomed all the new Pokémon in a way his old self wouldn't before Ash caught and reformed him.
Now they were all bonding and getting along just how Ash liked it as he worked with them to bring out the best his Pokémon could be in ways only he could. Florges was already strong but she was getting stronger than she ever could have in the Wetlands while already Rowlet, Meltan, and Farfetch'd were growing under Ash's care.
To this end Ash had even asked Dawn to bring in her Machamp to help out a bit given his fighting type credentials which worked for Dawn as she'd already planned on having him and Malamar for the Contest so it worked out well. The reason why she had to request Malamar as well was because if Machamp was coming then Malamar would slap any other Poké Ball away, as well as slapping Tracey until she was sent over as well because she and Machamp had a little rivalry over how to protect and guide Dawn.
Regardless of the eccentricities of some of her Pokémon, this was all part of Dawn current training regime and philosophy that she'd begun in Kalos and extended to Alola and now Galar; use a mix of old and new Pokémon in Contest. That is to say that for each of Dawn's Contests so far other than her very first one back she would use at least one Pokémon that had Contest experience and one which didn't so that they too got experience competing in Contests and thus were ready for the Majestic Festival once Dawn qualified.
Thanks to all of her Contests so far that meant that Dawn had gotten some experience for almost all of her Pokémon that she'd caught in Kalos along with Ninetales who never participated in a Contest as a Vulpix having been caught too late to do so as Dawn won her final Contest soon after Vulpix hatched. The only ones that Dawn hadn't used in a Contest since returning to the circuit in her quest to qualify for the Majestic Festival were Helioptile and Ursaring and the latter was because she was still having issues with it so it was still at Ash's chateaux in Kalos where her Pokémon were now registered.
If she won today, however, Dawn decided that it was high time she brought in that Pokémon and properly work with it, especially with Ash's Conkeldurr around at the moment who had reformed and could show Ursaring that it could be done. For the moment, though, Dawn had to focus on her upcoming Contest and she was sticking to the same plan as before only slightly modified.
That being that she now classified Machamp and Malamar as semi-experienced Contest Pokémon as both had been in a Contest though as they'd only done a battle each and never an appeal they weren't fully experienced Contest Pokémon. Regardless, they knew the ropes so they could help out there and she'd use one of her two newest at the very least. Helioptile was not present, however, as Dawn had to prepare for Emily and had brought in a different Pokémon who she felt was best to deal with the younger girl and her type specialization.
As such Dawn was making sure that all her bases were covered with the upcoming Contest. She'd get either Popplio or Jangmo-o experience in it, further and potentially broaden the experience of some of her veterans, and then go all out when dealing with an up and coming coordinator with two Grand Festival semifinal appearances under her belt.
Of course a Top Coordinator could always appeared, the nature of the Majestic Festival ensured that Top Coordinators were competing again and could pop up anywhere, but Dawn was certain that her toughest challenge would be Emily. She'd not faced the girl since the Kanto Grand Festival and it was clear that Emily had improved so Dawn had to be ready for her.
That was why there was no room for error. The tight schedule to qualify for the Majestic Festival within a year was always present and Dawn could afford at most one loss per region though winning without a loss and moving on quickly like in Alola did alleviate some of the presser. That was what Dawn was going for in Galar as well but they'd planned their route to accounted for that so she could handle a loss. However, why have that mentality when she could focus on winning and avoiding a second Contest so she could enjoy Galar, help Ash out, and get more training in that would pay off come the Majestic Festival.
That was Dawn's mentality and she was almost ready for the upcoming Contest. There was just a few more nuances to work out with the various appeals she was preparing and she though on them as she finished drying the last dish and put them all away before turning to her assembled Pokémon.
"This afternoon it's appeal training." Dawn said to them. "I've not decided who to go with yet, I need to see where in the order I'm selected to appeal and if it's after a few others how the standard is, so I want to hammer down each of your routines. Only Machamp is excused to help Ash and Farfetch'd out as he's not yet got his appeal down and thus won't be used in it."
"Machamp." Machamp said the apology clear in his tone.
"Malamar." Malamar said accepting it as she had her appeal sorted even if it had taken a few slaps to correct Dawn's idea to fit her personality and powers better. "Malamar."
"Pip, Piplup." Piplup said encouragingly as he knew that Machamp would get it soon and besides, he was a great battler for Dawn and they needed that just as much as appeals so he was going to do his part to bring victory to the team regardless of his roll. "Piplup. Pip, Piplup."
"Machamp." Machamp said with a smile and a nod before he lumbered off and went to help Ash and his Pokémon out.
"Thanks Piplup." Dawn said with a smile before she turned and looked at her Alola water starter. "Right, Popplio, I want to start with you as we won't have access to water so you need to really be on your game."
"Popplio." Popplio said ready to get work as Dawn began to lead their group over to their designated appeal spot.
"That's just what I want to hear so let's that this from the top." Dawn said as she faced her Pokémon while the others fanned out behind her to watch and give their own critiques. "When you come out turn and face me and…"
With that Dawn began her work with Popplio while the others watched and cheered on showing their support for their teammate as he prepared for his potential Contest debut. They all had helpful pointers at the end and Dawn told Popplio to rest for a moment and watch the others before she switched to Jangmo-o and worked with him for a little bit. After that it was Malamar's turn to show off as they slowly moved closer to the edge of the plateau so as to have space for Malamar and then Piplup's ranged attacks and get a sense for how they worked with their appeal routines.
This was how Dawn conducted her appeal training and she made sure to correct each of her Pokémon's mistakes while also encouraging them and praising successes as she worked with them to improve and perfect their appeals that would be used either in the upcoming Contest or a potential future one. After all, this prep was for all the Contests that Dawn would enter this year so unless something changed Dawn didn't see a reason not to use an appeal that was perfected for a different Contest and not used in a future one once it had been repolished beforehand.
As for Battle prep, which was what they had done that morning, that was often with Ash. After all, you couldn't get a better instructor on battles than a regional Champion, and Dawn was eternally grateful for that fact though even if he wasn't a regional Champion she'd have taken all the help he could offer because she knew how skilled he was. It also helped Ash in his training so it was a win/win for both of them.
Of course Dawn added her own flare to battles to fit a Contest battle that she worked on but since her time in Kalos and seeing the emerging style there she'd begun to incorporate aspects of her Showcase experience into it. Dawn couldn't replicate how performers Serena or Miette battled, she'd never truly gotten freestyle rounds in Showcases and used more unpredictable pageantry to advance there, but she could see how the elements of a freestyle worked in a Contest battle and applied what she could to improve her own style.
Yes, thing were going really well for Dawn as she and her 4 Pokémon that she'd decided to choose from for the appeals continued to work hard on polishing them to a fine sheen. Machamp and the one she was saving for Emily were set for battle only this time around and had been more focused on that though they also worked on their appeals as it helped with movement training for them.
It was a lot of work but that was how it was with training and all this hard work would pay off. Dawn knew it and as she finished going through each of her Pokémon's appeals a second time in that session, fine tuning a few things again, she decided that it was time for a break.
"Alright, well done everyone." Dawn said as she clapped her hands following Piplup's appeal, which as expected was the best of the lot and he knew it as he puffed out his chest as he waddled over with a as much of a swagger as he could manage. "Let's take a break. I've got some Pokeblock for you. I'm still getting used to making it, it's a Hoenn and Kanto thing, but I made a lot with Emily with this in mind so here you go."
With that Dawn pulled out five cases of the Pokémon dietary snack that was packed with nutrients for Pokémon. It was somewhat similar to Poke Puffs and poffins, the later of which Dawn was a master at and she was getting really good with the former after a year of focusing on them in Kalos, but she'd not used Pokeblock much in the past. However, between a year with May who as a Hoenn native had encountered Pokeblock early in her Contest career and thus preferred and become an expert in it, and her recent time with Emily, Dawn had decided to give it a go.
Dawn of course had experience, she'd been making it every now and then since she'd won the Wallace Cup when it was held in Hoenn, but it was still new to using it so much. That said, Dawn would be the first to admit that her Pokémon needed something new to mix things up. Poffins and Poke Puffs had their own areas of expertise when it came to Pokémon care and her Pokémon had benefited immensely from them so now it was time to use Pokeblock some more and continue to grow and improve both herself as a coordinator and her Pokémon.
As such, during the waiting time in Wyndon when they were all waiting for Farfetch'd to be healed up, she and Emily had made a lot of Pokeblock in the Pokémon Center there. It helped that Emily had acquired a large amount of berries for it as Pokeblock was her preferred style of supplement and was more than happy to give Dawn what she needed to make them for her own Pokémon. This was useful because as with poffins and Poke Puffs, Dawn had gone for the tailored strategy of making them to fit her Pokémon's types, physiology, and personal tastes so it required a fair bit of trial and error to perfect.
This was a lesson that she'd learned early on with poffins when she realized that her mother's recipe was designed specifically for a feline Pokémon in mind so didn't work well with the others and had perfected it over the years. Naturally, after catching her Litleo she'd brought it back and Litleo, now Pyroar, had loved it so Dawn still made her mother's special poffins from time to time.
It wasn't just Dawn who did this, Miette and Serena were both masters of this strategy as well only for them it was with Poke Puffs not poffins while May understood it with Pokeblock so Dawn had done the same with the other two supplements as well as teaching the other girls about poffins in return. After all, what worked well for a dark and psychic type with a squid-like physiology wasn't going to work as well on a pure water type with an avian physiology and vice versa.
So, as with her other supplements, Dawn had made Pokeblock for all her current Pokémon based on their types and physiology and then fine-tuned the results to fit their specific tastes. She already had that data to work from tanks to her poffin work, she always made sure to find that out as soon as she could after catching a Pokémon, and so from there it was just trial and error to perfect it as there were still differences between the three supplements that couldn't be accounted for until they were tried.
In time Dawn would make Pokeblock for all her Pokémon but for now she was focused on her 6 on hand and had them ready as they took their break. She'd give Machamp his later, he was still working with Ash and his Pokémon as he could give Farfetch'd strength tips in ways that Conkeldurr couldn't, but for now she handed out the Pokeblock as she gave feedback.
"Popplio, you're still a bit stiff with the third move." Dawn said given him his Pokeblock opting to give the supplement to each Pokémon as she addressed them. "Remember, at the end of the day this is fun so play into it. You don't need to rely so much on the start, that's just to get the flow going."
"Popplio." Popplio said with a nod.
"Jangmo-o, I know you like the pageantry and all but you don't need to oversell it." Dawn said turning to her pure dragon type. "Let it flow naturally, that will look better than being overly flamboyant."
"Jangmo." Jangmo-o said a little confused as he liked the pageantry but if this is what Dawn felt would look better he'd tone it down slightly.
"Malamar, your fluidity is good but it doesn't have to be all in the tentacles." Dawn said. "I know you're good with them and they look great but remember the rest of your body as well."
"Malamar." Malamar said as she accepted her Pokeblock cube, she could take suggestion when it wasn't stupid and she did acknowledge that she was more used to using her tentacles and Psychic rather than her lower body. "Mal, Malamar."
"Piplup." Dawn said ending with her starter and Piplup puffed up again. "As always you're near perfect but don't let that go to your head. Remember our early days, anything could happen in an appeal. Confidence is great just don't let it turn into arrogance."
"Piplup." Piplup said puffing down a bit as he recalled Dawn's two failed appeals. "Pip, Piplup."
"Good now after our break we'll do two more run throughs before healing up and having dinner." Dawn said putting away the Pokeblock cases before looking around at her Pokémon. "After that it's grooming time, you're all going to look your best for the Contest."
Her Pokémon nodded and gave a chorus of agreements at that. Dawn was good at Pokémon care, not at the level of Brock or Bonnie but those two were at or near professional level, but still above average so they were all looking forward to a little pampering at the end of the day.
"Alright then if there's no more objections we'll get back to work in…" Dawn began before a sudden noise to the side caught her attention and she looked over to the edge of the plateau just as a set of yellow eyes with an orange mustache like protrusion between them poked up from underneath it. "Er…"
Dawn blinked in confusion as the Pokémon continued to climb over the edge and to reveal that it had a flat body around 3 feet long with a red head and end and a dark red patch over most of its back, 5 sets of stubby legs and a red underbelly with yellow circles in each of the segments of its body. Finally a small, stinger looking thing protruded from the middle of its final segment that came into view as it fully crested the ledge and moved onto the plateau.
As she studied the Pokémon, Dawn noted that it was vaguely familiar but it took her a moment to finally place where she'd seen it before. She'd seen one of these Pokémon before back in Kalos when she was in the Conflagration Contest that finally got her the Kalos Ribbon that she needed. It was under the command of a Galarian trainer who'd called it a Sizzlipede and given the nature of that Contest it was at least part fire type. In fact Dawn was sure that it was only part given it's insectoid appearance indicated that it had to be part bug type as well though she didn't recall that particular battle well.
That was an interesting combination for sure and Dawn wanted to know more about it. She'd been unable to do so in Kalos because she was in a Contest and focused on advancing in the battle round, well that and her Pokedex might not have been updated yet to include Galarian native Pokémon but now neither was an issue. She wasn't in a Contest and one of the first things she'd done upon getting to the Pokémon Center in Wyndon was have her Pokedex updated for Galar just like she'd had Kukui do in Alola. So now that she had the time, she pulled out her Pokedex and scanned it as Sizzlipede looked at her.
"Sizzlipede, the Radiator Pokémon." Dawn's Pokedex chimed. "It stores flammable gas in its body and uses it to generate heat. The yellow sections on its belly get particularly hot."
"Hey, you ok? You look lost." Dawn said as she put her Pokedex away noting the entry as she crouched down and looked at the Sizzlipede unaware that it was indeed very lost as the only areas of Galar where they could be found were between Motostoke City and the old Galar Mine or even further south by the Giant's Foot in the Crown Tundra. "I bet you're hungry, I doubt there's much around here that would appeal to a fire and bug type. I don't have food right now but how about a Pokeblock? I think this will work for you."
With that Dawn pulled out one of her Pokeblock cases and popped the first cube of it into her hand. She then held it out palm flat to Sizzlipede smiling and making sure to not do anything threatening while all her Pokémon gave them a respectful distance.
Sizzlipede was indeed hungry. She'd been captured by a poacher down by the mine she'd hatched and grown up in and transported up here. Why she didn't know, she wasn't the only one that the poacher had grabbed, but she was. Thankfully, the poacher had to travel overland and avoid the cities and as such the Pokémon were able to rebel, knock him and his partner Pokémon out, and escape back to the wild.
Most were able to either head back to where they'd lived or establish themselves in new areas that had natural habitats conducive to their types and physiologies but in this part of Galar, Sizzlipede didn't have either. She was too far from the mines to get back and frankly she didn't really want to. She'd been a solitary Pokémon down there, her longer than normal length leading to an ostracization from the others of her kind, so she had no desire to return there. However, she had no clue what she wanted to do instead.
To try and find that out she'd been drawn to the festival that was being set up by the humans in the area she'd escaped her captor but as she was making her way to it she'd noticed two lone humans on this plateau. That had really intrigued her as she preferred more sparsely populated areas so she'd made her way up the cliff and onto the plateau to investigate. That was where she was greeted by this human female who was smiling at her and offering her something to eat.
Sizzlipede was hesitant, she'd had a bad experience with a human recently, but she was hungry and the local ecosystem wasn't conducive to her normal diet, so she skittered forward and bent down to eat the cube. It did look appealing and she got a good feeling from it so she ate it and her whole body shuddered at the taste. It wasn't ideal but it was still good and she felt the fire in her heat up at it, which was a good sign. She looked up at the girl and buzzed her thanks.
"Here, have another." Dawn said popping another one in. "You look like you could use it."
Sizzlipede buzzed again and took the Pokeblock and enjoyed it. She was feeling good and finally took a look around and as she did confusion filled her eyes. She didn't recognize any of the Pokémon that were with the girl. All were clearly the humans and judging by their hearts, and that of the girl, they were all good Pokémon who cared for their human but none were from where she'd grown up. Sizzlipede could tell that and that intrigued her more so she buzzed again and looked around to show that she was wondering what they were up to.
"You want to know what we're doing up here?" Dawn said correctly reading what Sizzlipede wanted and she nodded at that pleased that the human understood her. "Oh we're training for the Contest down there. I'm a coordinator you see so I compete in those."
As Dawn spoke she pointed down to the valley where the Contest festival was being set up and Sizzlipede looked over at it. She didn't get it and turned to cock her head at the human in confusion.
"Er, help me out guys." Dawn said looking at her Pokémon. "Can you explain what a Contest is to Sizzlipede as you're better at this than I would be."
"Pip, Piplup." Piplup said waddling forward though Sizzlipede was a bit wary as the Pokémon was clearly a water type and possibly a flying type as well which would be bad for her to fight against but he seemed friendly enough if a bit full of himself. "Piplup, pip, pip, Piplup. Piplup, pip."
Piplup proceeded to explain who Dawn was, his role as her starter and strongest Pokémon during which he extoled his many virtues, and what Dawn did as a trainer. He gave a detailed account of Contests and how they worked while the others helped out as best they could, though they made it clear that Piplup was exaggerating himself a bit. Still, they did endorse Dawn as a good human who knew what she was doing and they all loved her even if she needed some tough love at times to correct her own mistakes. That last bit was just Malamar but she felt it needed to be pointed out.
"Sizzle." Sizzlipede buzzed as she took it all in. "Sizzlipede."
She was certainly intrigued by what a Contest was and the endorsement of Dawn was big, she'd not known a good human but she could tell that this one was, but she still didn't understand what the other Pokémon did with her. As such she asked for a demonstration of what Piplup meant.
"Piplup!" Piplup cried happily as he waddled over to the side where he'd have room while Dawn looked a little confused as she'd not been able to follow the Pokémon chatter but she could tell that whatever was being said was putting Sizzlipede at ease. "Pip, Piplup!"
Then, before Dawn could ask what was going on, Piplup cried out, lent his head back, opened his beak and unleashed a Bubble Beam into the air. As he did he spun so that the bubbles were even distributed in the air and filled it above him, the precision and control to do so as spinning really showing off his appeal skills as he made sure the bubbles were hanging there and looking good.
Then, once they were out and still spinning, Piplup leapt up into the air and activated Drill Peck. Instantly his beak elongating and glowing with flying type power as his spin drastically sped up thanks to the move. This was done seamlessly in time with his spin that he'd used as he launched his Bubble Beam so the transition into the spin of Drill Peck came off naturally as he shot through he bubbles never once being obscured by them and in fact using the bubbles to show off how his feathers gleamed as he shot up never once touching a bubble.
Then, as he cleared the bubbles, his Drill Peck ended but he kept the momentum of the spin even as it slowed down with the completion of his move so that he could easily pitched forward and hang upside down in the air looking at the bubbles, beak open and a glowing light blue ball in his mouth. He then blasted out his Ice Beam into the bubbles as he spun. The result was that he covered all the bubbles with his Ice Beam while never letting the beam hit the ground as he hit all the bubbles in one rotation and ended the Ice Beam.
Finally, Piplup, still spinning, finished his flip forward so that his feet were once again pointing at the ground and tilted his head back for his grand finale. As he did the now heavy ice bubbles fell to the ground and shattered in a beautiful display of ice particles that misted the ground below Piplup. As they did, Piplup unleashed his Whirlpool and blasted it into the air above him. The spin of the Whirlpool matched his own spin and kept up as Piplup fell to the ground below the Whirlpool and by extension himself clear for all to see.
A moment later he landed a few seconds after the last of the ice dust cleared and the Whirlpool ended. He was facing Sizzlipede who was now wide eyed at what Piplup had did. This only fed Piplup's ego and he gave as elaborate bow as he could manage to finish his appeal.
"As great as ever Piplup." Dawn said getting it now as Sizzlipede had probably been confused about Contests and so Piplup had shown off an appeal to the wild Pokémon who Dawn turned to as she remained crouching having never gotten up from it. "See Sizzlipede, that's an appeal. That's what a Contest starts with. If me and my Pokémon who I sent out for it do well in that then we advance to the battle round. I'm pretty good at this stuff and Piplup is my starter so he's been doing it the longest. That was an appeal that would easily advance in any Contest that I have entered."
"Piplup." Piplup confirmed with a nod before he waddled over while the other Pokémon mentioned that Dawn was in fact a Top Coordinator which meant that she'd won a big tournament held once a year in several regions and thus was one of the best in the world because she won one and now they were training for a competition that could see her become the best of the best. "Pip, Piplup."
"Sizzle." Sizzlipede buzzed as she turned to Dawn.
Dawn saw the look in the Pokémon's eyes, a look of intrigue, and decided to go for it. It was a gut feeling but she trusted her gut as that was how she'd ended up with a Spiritomb.
"How about joining us, I'll teach you that and more as we get stronger together." Dawn said as she reached behind her, pulled out an empty Poke Ball, and expanded it before holding it out to Sizzlipede but not touching it with the ball. "You'll never be hungry and I'll take great care of you. I do have a full team so you'll be sent to my storage in Kalos for the moment but don't worry my other Pokémon are there and can help you adjust and there's someone there who's an expert in Pokémon care that I trust to look after my Pokémon while I'm away. I promise I'll bring you back after the Contest and we can train then. Plus we'll need a good fire type like yourself when we climb through those mountains."
Again there was a chorus of affirmatives at this with some of Dawn's Pokémon explaining how they were caught and saying that she'd not regret joining. Malamar didn't help by pointing out that her capture was an accident after Dawn's battle with a wild Abra had disturbed her leisure but she was still glad for it because Dawn had shown promise in catching her to begin with and she'd gotten stronger with Dawn.
Sizzlipede heard them and agreed. She would be better with a human who'd care for her and look after her and she could tell that Dawn would do that. Her Pokémon all loved her and Dawn hadn't shown fear or hatred to her when she arrived, even fed her despite not knowing Sizzlipede at all showing how much she cared for Pokémon in general, so she was a good human.
Yes, this would work best and she'd even learn how to do what Piplup did, well, tailored to her own move set, which looked cool. As such, she looked up at Dawn and met her eyes before buzzing affirmatively and nodding at the human before her.
"Great! Welcome to the team Sizzlipede." Dawn said grinning as she moved her hand forward and touched the top of Sizzlipede's head with her Poke Ball. "I know that you'll fit right in."
Instantly the Poke Ball opened and sucked Sizzlipede in in a flash of red light. It then closed and shook in her hand as it made the usual noise and the button flashed red. This lasted a few seconds before it shopped shaking and clicked to signal that it had been a successful capture. As Dawn already had 6 Pokémon on her the Poke Ball shrunk on its own before vanishing as it was automatically transported to her storage location at Ash's chateaux in Kalos. Still Dawn just smiled as she closed her hand looking forward to bringing Sizzlipede into her team after the next Contest.
"What just happened?"
The question surprised Dawn and she leapt up and turned in confusion to see Ash standing nearby with Machamp next to him. His Pokémon were taking a break behind him with Florges going all mother mode on them like always to make sure that they were resting properly, but Ash was here with Machamp.
"Ash." Dawn said getting over her surprise. "When'd you get here?"
"Right when that Poke Ball vanished." Ash said still confused at what had happened to Dawn. "We decided to take a break and Machamp wanted to come back and get some Pokeblock so I came with him to see how you're doing. Looks like I missed something pretty big as I'm sure that I just saw a Poke Ball vanish from your hand which means that you caught something."
"Yup, a Sizzlipede showed up looking lost and hungry so I fed it while my Pokémon explained what I do to it and showed off a bit." Dawn said to which Piplup puffed up in pride again as he'd been the one to show off and show off he did. "Then I asked it to join me and it accepted so I caught it. It's gone back to Kalos for now but I'll bring it to my side after the Contest, or before so it can watch if I finalize my lineup for it tomorrow."
"Huh?" Ash asked his confusion growing. "I'm really confused now. You caught a Pokémon by showing it what you do in a Contest?"
"Pretty much but don't worry, I'll tell you later, it's an odd story which is typical for our captures I feel." Dawn said with a smile. "But for now I need to focus on my Contest. Thanks for bringing Machamp back, we could use some pointers from him as well as he can watch the appeals with an objective eye."
"Oh ok." Ash said still curious but trusting Dawn as Machamp asked for details from Piplup who gave them, hyping up his own role in the process of course. "I look forward to it."
Dawn just smiled before she turned back to her Pokémon and Ash returned to his. They did have to really focus on their training as this was the best time to maximize it before their upcoming events. The Sizzlipede distraction had been nice but it was back to the grind as Dawn got ready for her first, and hopefully only, Galar Contest.
I feel like this is a good place to end this chapter off at given what is about to come and I know y'all are looking forward to that. Initially this was going to be a standard training chapter, the usual bridge chapter between events to keep the flow of the story, but it needed more so I brought forward Dawn's capture of Sizzlipede (that was always planned) to flesh it out and add to the chapter. Don't worry, this acceleration hasn't changed anything else and now Dawn has her first Galarian Pokémon as she gears up for her Galarian debut. That is all that I have for this Part, however, so I will leave it off here. As always if you like my work then please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), if possible leave a 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