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"Dawn, are you... alright?"
In the contestant lounge, Ash met Dawn as she retreated from the stage. She looked small in her pink dress, her shoulders slightly slumped, but as soon as she saw him, she forced a wide, practiced smile onto her face.
"A-Ash! Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly fine!" she chirped, her voice a pitch too high. She clenched her fists, trying to radiate her usual optimism. "Congratulations on making the finals! You have to win it all, okay? No problem!"
"Dawn..." Ash started, but the girl was already turning away. He could see the slight tremble in her hands. She didn't want him to see her break; she didn't want to expose the raw vulnerability of her first major defeat.
Ash watched her leave the hall, his brow furrowed. He didn't say a word, but he followed at a distance, ensuring she was safe until she stopped at a row of video phones. When he saw her dialing her mother, Johanna, he finally let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
She's in good hands now, Ash thought. A Top Coordinator's advice is exactly what she needs to move past this wall. With a final, silent nod toward the phone booth, he turned back to the arena. The finals were calling.
On the other end of the line, Johanna's expression was stern, her voice firm yet filled with a mother's wisdom. "Dawn, listen to me. You are a Trainer now, and you have companions traveling with you. In the future, whether you win or lose, don't just cry to your mother. Talk to them. Lean on them."
Dawn went quiet, the tears finally spilling over. After a long moment, she wiped her eyes, her gaze hardening into something more resilient. "I understand, Mom. I'll be stronger next time."
"That's my girl," Johanna smiled gently. "Now go. Watch the final. Learn from it."
Dawn returned to the stands just as the lights dimmed for the main event: Ash vs. Zoey.
Ash stepped onto the stage, his presence calm and commanding. He released Aipom, who landed with an enthusiastic somersault, while Zoey brought out her Glameow—the same sleek predator that had just dismantled Dawn.
"Swift!" Ash opened the match.
Aipom spun 360 degrees in mid-air, her tail-hand glowing. She unleashed a swarm of golden stars, but they didn't fly straight. They moved in a strange, oscillating spiral, weaving through the air with a logic that defied physics.
"Shadow Claw!" Zoey countered.
Glameow's claws extended with dark energy, ready to shred the incoming projectles. But the "Shaking Star Technique"—Ash's customized application of projectile curvature inspired by his past life's cinema—made the stars impossible to pin down. They danced around Glameow's defenses, striking her flanks and back.
"How is she doing that?" Zoey gasped, her point bar taking its first major hit.
"It's beautiful!" Dawn exclaimed from the stands, clutching Pikachu. She watched with wide eyes as Ash demonstrated how a battle move could be transformed into a masterpiece of redirection.
"Focus Punch!" Ash pressed the advantage.
Aipom dived from above, her tail-hand glowing with white-hot energy. Zoey reacted instantly. "Iron Tail! Use the spring!" Glameow coiled her tail like a high-tension spring, launching upward to meet the strike.
"Now—Screech!"
Just before impact, Aipom opened her mouth and unleashed a deafening, high-pitched wail. The sound wave was physical, causing Zoey and the audience to wince and cover their ears. Glameow, with her sensitive feline hearing, was momentarily paralyzed by the sonic assault. Her Iron Tail faltered, and Aipom's Focus Punch slammed home.
BOOM!
Glameow was sent skidding across the stage, her defense lowered by the Screech and her stamina drained by the super-effective Fighting-type blow.
"He's even using support moves for tactical openings," Brock noted, a proud smile on his face. "He's a completely different Trainer than he was in Kanto."
"Finish it—Double Team into Swift!"
Aipom blurred into five clones, surrounding the staggering Glameow. In unison, they unleashed a final, spiraling ocean of golden stars. The arena was swallowed by a shimmering five-pointed star of light. When the glow faded, Glameow lay unconscious in the center.
"Glameow is unable to battle! The winner of the Jubilife Contest is Ash!"
The crowd erupted. Ash walked to the center of the stage as the MC presented him with the shimmering Jubilife Ribbon. He held it up, but his eyes found Dawn in the crowd. He raised the ribbon toward her—a silent acknowledgment that this victory was for the team.
"We did it, Aipom," Ash whispered, patting the monkey's head. The first step of the Sinnoh journey was complete, and the mantle of a Coordinator was now officially his.
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