"Ladies and gentlemen give a loud hand of applause to our first coordinator for today Dawn from Twinleaf Town! who will be making her debut in the Contest Circuit." Marian announced.

Dawn made her way towards the stage and was stunned by the number of audience present. It was pretty natural for someone who was competing in her first ever contest.

'Don't be nervous Dawn, just believe in yourself and your Pokemon you will definitely do great' she remembered the words that Ash said to her. 'Yeah, no need to worry.' she said to herself.

"Piplup Spotlight!" she exclaimed as Piplup came out of its Pokeball in the most elegant manner that it could swaying its flippers.

'Oh, so this is the effect of Pokeball seals.' Ash said as he was seated in the audience to support Dawn.

"Piplup now use Mist!" the bluenette ordered as Piplup used Mist and the entire stadium was now covered by the attack.

"Piplup now use Bubble beam." Dawn ordered as it began to release the attack causing the water bubbles to mix with the Mist which resulted in a beautiful combination.

"Now, use Peck while spinning and break the bubbles!" she ordered and Piplup used the attacks to burst out the bubbles which resulted in splashing of water all over the stadium and the audience enjoyed the small cold-water shower which refreshed them.

As the Mist cleared Piplup landed on ground in a spinning fashion. "Piplup!" it cried in pride as the crowd began to cheer.

"What an amazing performance by Dawn and her Piplup on debut, definitely mesmerized the audience!" Marian exclaimed.

"Yeah, awesome bunch of tricks for a newbie." Mr. Contesta said.

"Great confidence for a coordinator on debut." Mr. Sukizo remarked.

"Completely enjoyed the performance especially the Bubble beam part." Nurse Joy pointed.

Dawn then thanked the judges and audience, completely satisfied by her performance she walked towards the dressing room greeted by Zoey.

"Great performance Dawn, you were awesome out there!" Zoey exclaimed completely surprised by her performance. It was certainly not a kind of performance expected for someone who is participating in her first ever contest.

"Thanks, Zoey I look forward to watch your performance as well." Dawn said while getting a nod from Zoey.

All the performances of the first round were over and a total of 32 contestants had participated in it. The judges were impressed by some performances as well as there were some naïve ones too which received hate from the audience.

Dawn was pretty much impressed by Zoey's performance, she and her Glameow looked in perfect sync and their performance was probably one of the best in today's contest. All the coordinators were waiting in the dressing room for the results to show up. A total of 8 coordinators were going to advance towards the second round that is the battle round.

"Dawn feeling nervous." Zoey asked as she saw a nervous look on Dawn's face.

"Yeah, what if I don't make, it would be a shame to not even reach the second round in your first contest." Dawn said expressing her worries. Ash was sure that Dawn will make it so he already wished her luck for the next round, boosting her confidence.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you again I'm Marian and this is the Jubilife City Contest. On your screen is the list of 8 coordinators that have made it to the second round!"

The list of coordinators appeared on the screen one by one making Dawn more nervous and to her relief the seventh picture that appeared on the screen was of her. The battles went in order one by one.

Dawn's first match was against a coordinator from Solaceon town. "Piplup finish it off with Bubblebeam." she ordered as Piplup charged the attack towards a Stunky. It was knocked out instantly with three crosses appearing on the screen below the judges.

"And the winner of this round is Dawn from Twinleaf town and she moves towards the semi-final round of the Jubilife contest!" Marian announced.

Dawn was currently battling a coordinator from the Hoenn region in the second semi-final of the contest. Meanwhile Zoey had won both of her battles quite easily advancing to the finals.

"Piplup use your new move now, Hidden Power!" the bluenette exclaimed as Piplup had just learned Hidden Power according to her Pokedex. The attack landed right on Marshtomp creating a smoke due to collision as Marshtomp was ordered to use Mud-slap. As the smoke cleared the time was over and Dawn had slight, more points than her opponent making her the winner.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over the final of the Jubilife city Pokemon Contest is underway, please welcome 'Dawn from Twinleaf Town' and 'Zoey from Snowpoint City!' Marian exclaimed and the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Dawn even if you are my new friend, I won't go easy on you." Zoey said.

"Even me, may the best one win." Dawn said with a confident smile. After all the training and practice she had done with Ash she didn't want to lose this Contest at all.

"Buneary spotlight!" Dawn exclaimed while calling Buneary out of its Pokeball. "Get ready Buneary this is your first official Contest battle and we have to win it." Dawn said. "Bun Bun." It cried confidently.

"Glameow! come on out." Zoey said.

"Buneary start it off with Dizzy Punch!" Dawn ordered as Buneary began to charge towards Glameow.

"Intercept it with Metal Claw." Zoey ordered as both the attacks collided but Dawn was the one who lost points as Zoey had countered the attack easily.

"Glameow now use Shadow Ball." Zoey ordered as it began to charge a dark ball of energy towards Buneary.

"Buneary use Bounce to dodge the attack." The bluenette ordered but unfortunately it was too late, and Dawn kept on losing points.

"Glameow use Shadow Claw" Zoey ordered and Glameow began to charge towards Buneary.

"Buneary use Ice Beam now." the Ice attack was launched and it hit straight on Glameow freezing it cold, this made Zoey lose a lot of points.

"Nice one Buneary, we can still win this match, use Ice Beam once again." Dawn said.

"Not so fast Dawn, the battle is not over yet, Glameow use Double team." Zoey ordered as Glameow began to make its copies dodging the Ice Beam quite easily. "Now fire Shadow Balls non-stop!" Zoey exclaimed as the Shadow Balls were launched one by one.

Buneary tried her best to dodge the continuous attacks but was hit by one, which resulted loss of points for Dawn.

"Only 30 seconds are left for this battle to end, looks like Zoey is in an advantage." Marian announced.

"Buneary use Dizzy Punch." Dawn ordered as she had no other options left. Buneary charged towards Glameow to land a hit.

"Glameow use Shadow Claw!" Zoey exclaimed. Both the attacks collided resulting in the formation of a cloud of smoke.

Ash was pretty nervous, as the battle was quite close but Zoey had a little edge over Dawn throughout the battle. It was obvious as Dawn was competing in her first contest and Zoey had already competed in a couple.

As the smoke cleared, the time was up and the winner was declared on the screen. It was an extremely close battle and the winner had won just by an edge.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our winner for today is Zoey! from Snowpoint City. It was an amazing clash between two emerging coordinators and kept us at the edge our seats throughout the battle."

Dawn was heartbroken, reason being it was her first contest and even after coming so close she lost. She quickly made her away out of the stadium towards the dressing room. She could not process her emotions right now and was about to cry, she saw Ash standing near the door.

"I am so sorry, even after you teaching and training me...I lost, I couldn't even win a freaking contest!" she exclaimed letting out all her emotions. She was about to say more but suddenly stopped as Ash embraced her in a comforting hug.

"Don't blame yourself! It was just your first contest and you made it to finals and even gave Zoey a tough fight." Ash explained in a comforting tone.

"But I disappointed, mom and everyone else who was rooting for me." Dawn said.

"No, you made them proud. You passed the appeals round, defeated two coordinators and made it straight to the final! You won't believe but I lost my first gym battle probably within a minute." Ash said chuckling at the memory of his first gym battle with Brock.

"Really?" she asked getting confused as to a trainer like Ash got defeated in a gym battle within a minute.

"Yes, I had no chance Brock demolished me with his Onix, if it wasn't the water sprinklers coming down in the second try, I would have lost that try as well." Ash explained.

"But how? You are so strong now, you defeated Paul so easily and your Pokemon are literally monters!" Dawn exclaimed while Ash chuckled at her term 'monsters'.

"Well, Dawn at the start of my journey I was not a great trainer. I somehow managed to collect badges and entered the tournament, then I realized my mistake and started working better. You can't become the best until and unless you fail once and learn by your mistakes." Ash explained

"Thanks, for the explanation I really needed that. I might look like a mess right now, don't I?" Dawn asked her tears stopping.

"No, you always look great to me." Ash said with a smile which completely flattered Dawn leaving her blush crazily.

"Let's go and congratulate Zoey, after all she is my new friend and now my first rival as well, next time I'm going to defeat her!" Dawn said as in a new wave of confidence entered her.

"That's the spirit." Ash said before they turned their attention towards the TV screen that was placed inside the dressing room. Zoey was presented the Jubilife ribbon and was congratulated by the judges.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this brings us to the end of today's Jubilife Contest, meet you soon in the next one until then take care. It's me Marian your MC signing off for today." she announced.

Zoey appeared in the dressing room after a few minutes and was immediately greeted by Dawn and Ash.

"Hey Zoey, congrats on your victory." the bluentte said as Zoey approached her.

"Thanks, Dawn it was a great battle and probably my best so far. You sure gave me a tough time over there." the red-head said.

"Thanks!" Dawn said. "and next time when we battle, I will be the one who wins." she added earning a nervous smile from Zoey at her confidence.

"Well I guess I should get going, Prof. Rowan has called me in Sandgem Town for some work, so I have to reach there as fast as possible and after that I have to get ready for the next contest. Bye Dawn and good luck for your contests, see you soon." Zoey said as she waved goodbye to Dawn and made her way out of the hall.

"What ya waiting for bluebird, I think we should get going too?" Ash said teasing Dawn and immediately ran out of the hall.

"Hey, wait! what's that nickname for." Dawn exclaimed annoyed and began to chase Ash receiving a chuckle each from Pikachu, Eevee and Piplup.

Deep within her heart she knew something about Ash turned her on, made her feel special. A feeling which she was experiencing for the first time, which makes her feel confident and cheerful at the same time. She knew that she was falling for him. Yes, she was falling in love with Ash Ketchum.

They reached the Pokemon Center and booked their rooms. Dawn talked to her mother using the Videophone. Nothing too interesting happened after the Contest. Ash practiced with Eevee and Starly for some time before it became dark outside.

Soon they had their dinner and went into their rooms for a good night sleep which was equally necessary after today's tiring day. It was a medium sized room which was meant for two trainers and had two single-sized beds with a desk in between.

Dawn was sleeping on her bed which was on the left side. Piplup and Pikachu were sleeping on top of the desk which they found more comfortable and Eevee as usual was sleeping on top of Ash.

Everyone was fast asleep except Ash who was busy thinking. Like Dawn, he too had been experiencing some odd feeling towards her.

'What is this strange feeling, something which I never experienced earlier towards any girl even Misty or May.' Ash thought. He was now old enough to understand what these feeling meant, even though he was termed as 'dense' by most of his friends. 'But does she feel the same?' he asked to himself. 'Whatever it is I will surely find it out later.' he thought and drifted off to sleep.