[Check Out My P4treon For +30 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/ThePlotHoleRefuge]
===
"Back so soon? I thought you'd stay there and have a good chat with Dawn!"
Sitting in the audience, Brock saw Ash return and couldn't help but shoot him a knowing look.
"Pika~"
Pikachu climbed onto Ash's shoulder, chiming in with a nod of agreement.
"No way, I just came back to keep you two good friends company!"
Facing the teasing from Brock and Pikachu, Ash responded calmly, then turned his gaze to the stage.
"Hehe!"
"Pika~"
Brock and Pikachu rolled their eyes in unison, not believing a word of Ash's nonsense, then turned their attention back to the stage.
"Piplup, make a charming entrance!"
Wearing a pink dress, Dawn threw the Poké Ball with a bubble capsule, and as blue bubbles fell, the cute blue penguin appeared.
"Bubble Beam!"
Opening its yellow beak, Piplup spun its body, spraying blue bubbles all around, which shimmered in harmony with the bubbles from the capsule sticker.
"Drill Peck!"
Spinning its body at the same time, it used Drill Peck, an upgraded version of the Peck move, popping all the surrounding bubbles in one go.
The Hydro Pump that burst at a poke shimmered with a brilliant radiance under the sunlight.
This simple yet gorgeous performance instantly drew cheers from the audience, and Dawn, having regained her confidence, began to relax.
"Piplup, Whirlpool!"
"Pip lup"
A blue light glowed around Piplup's small body, and a large vortex of water was condensed.
And to the confusion of everyone watching, it tossed it high into the air, with no one knowing what it intended to do.
"Bide!"
In just a second, the girl and Piplup revealed the answer to everyone.
Piplup's body leaped up lightly, colliding directly with the falling Whirlpool, and using Bide, Piplup stood in the center of the vortex.
The brilliant white light appeared incredibly clear beneath the blue water.
"Piplup~"
At the same time, in the next second, the white light representing Bide shot out from Piplup's body, breaking through the Whirlpool surrounding it in one go.
Under the energy impact from Piplup, the Whirlpool turned into a drizzle of small water droplets, which shone like starlight under the sun.
Under the glistening water droplets, the stars of the stage, Piplup and Dawn, bowed to the judges and the audience.
"Not bad, a very good performance!"
"I like this one!"
...
Then, amidst the judges' praise and the audience's enthusiastic applause, Dawn exited the performance stage.
"It's solid. Even if this performance doesn't make the top three, entering the second round is definitely no problem!"
Dawn's performance made Brock's eyes light up. Although it couldn't be called excellent, with a veteran like Piplup stepping up, the overall performance was definitely fine.
"Whew!"
Seeing this scene, Ash finally breathed a true sigh of relief.
Because he could roughly tell that Dawn would likely succeed in advancing this time, and he didn't regret going to such great lengths for the girl.
Also feeling gratified for Dawn was Johanna, who had been silently cheering for the girl in front of the TV.
As a mother, she had watched every one of Dawn's battles.
This included the failure at the The Tournament of Fate.
What surprised Johanna, however, was that the girl really hadn't come to her to cry and complain, and had corrected her mistakes in such a short time.
"It seems Dawn has met some reliable companions!"
Recalling the two companions by her daughter's side, Johanna showed a happy smile.
As for why she didn't believe Dawn had corrected it herself, it was because, as a mother, she knew her child's abilities.
Without hitting a dead end, she would never realize where the problem lay.
While Johanna was reminiscing, the TV began to broadcast the results of the first round of judging.
Just as Brock expected, the top of the list was still not Dawn and Piplup's performance, and they weren't even second or third.
It wasn't until after the fourth place, reaching the fifth spot, that Dawn's beautiful photo finally appeared on the big screen.
"Great!"
Seeing her beautiful photo appear on the screen, Dawn happily hugged Piplup to celebrate.
Piplup also proudly raised its head and patted its chest to show off how great it was.
"Dawn, you're pretty good, successfully passing the first round of judging!" Kenny, wearing a suit, walked over at the right moment. "But this time, I won't lose again!"
"Ohoho, victory belongs to me, Jessilina!" Jessie, having entered the second round of judging again, covered her mouth and laughed.
"Hmph, bring it on!" Dawn responded confidently.
Regarding performance battles, having experienced double battles, Dawn was quite confident.
Not long after, the second round of judging began. Dawn, Kenny, and Jessie all entered the semi-finals, with Kenny and Jessie facing off first.
In this advancement match, Jessie seemed a bit off.
Compared to the past, Jessie actually performed exceptionally well, relying on Dustox's handling of details to defeat Kenny's Prinplup by a narrow margin.
It was simply beyond the expectations of all three.
Although Dawn was surprised, she didn't have time to dwell on it.
First, she defeated her opponent with Pachirisu to advance to the finals, where she faced off against Jessie's Dustox on the performance stage.
"Pachirisu, Discharge!"
A radiating blue current quickly rushed toward the Dustox in mid-air.
"Dustox, dodge quickly!"
Dustox used its agile figure to dodge flexibly in mid-air, avoiding Pachirisu's Discharge.
"Poison Sting!"
Purple needles representing Toxic shot out from Dustox's green wings.
"Electro Ball!"
A golden Energy Ball was thrown by Pachirisu and collided with the Poison Sting.
With a bang, the energy carried by the Electro Ball, along with the Poison Sting, shattered. Golden and purple energy dust scattered across the stage, immediately causing Jessie's score to drop.
"Psybeam!"
"Discharge!"
Two beams of colorful and blue energy collided. Such a powerful explosion and evenly matched strength caused both of their performance scores to drop.
"Damn it, Dustox, use Psybeam again..."
Just as Jessie was about to continue giving orders, a "dong" sound rang out, signaling the end of the 5-minute performance battle.
Because the score was far ahead of Jessie's, it meant that Dawn had taken the victory this time.
"Damn it, just by that much!" Jessie, who lost to the little girl in the finals, was somewhat annoyed.
"Let us once again congratulate Miss Dawn from Twinleaf Town for taking the crown of this tournament!"
Afterward, Mr. Contesta presented the ribbon to Dawn as a representative.
After a few words of encouragement, Dawn received the Solace ribbon and shouted happily:
"I've gotten my second ribbon, no problem!"
Her lively and cheerful appearance made Ash nod with satisfaction, and he clapped vigorously.
"Now I can rest assured and leave it to those kids!"
Recalling Ash and Brock, the two young men who looked exceptionally reliable, Johanna nodded with satisfaction in front of the TV.
Declaration: I'm about to start school soon, so I need to review for my entrance exams to avoid failing. Therefore, future updates might be fewer; I can only guarantee three updates a day.
If you send gifts, there will still be extra updates, but they will have to be on weekends, is that okay?
===
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 150 on my patreon, go check it out
exclusive 18+ character images, and early chapters, please visit my Patreon. Thanks for your support!
p4treon.com/ThePlotHoleRefuge
if you want more updates == supports with power stones
Every 30 Power Stones == Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter