On the second day in Floaroma Town, the Floaroma Contest was held as scheduled. After her failure at the Jubilife Contest, Dawn was fully prepared this time and was confident she would win her first ribbon. To prepare for her appearance, Dawn had a new hairstyle for her blue hair, and some of the more minor details of her outfit were also restyled. The only thing that remained unchanged was her pink dress.
All of this was thanks to the efforts of "stylist" Ash. He was afraid that Dawn would waste time again by taking too long, so he helped her get ready and look her best. With his past experience with dating, he naturally knew how to help a girl decorate herself perfectly. Although this was not the skill he wanted to have, under her constant pestering, he had become a professional stylist in every way.
For the first round of the Performance Stage, Dawn successfully advanced with her Electric-squirrel, Pachirisu. Although the process had a few flaws, as Pachirisu was a bit nervous in front of the large audience, the clever Dawn was able to use a Poffin to adjust its mood in time, and with its brilliant performance, they still managed to enter the second round.
"Dawn's performance was great. Even with a mistake, her score was still much higher than the other contestants!" Brock said from the audience. Dawn's talent for Pokémon Contests was truly high.
"After all, she's practiced so many times!" Ash said, remembering how persistent Dawn was with him the day before, almost wearing him out. The fact that she still had the energy to keep practicing, combined with her talent and hard work, meant that it was only natural for her to be so far ahead of the other contestants.
"Buneary, you need to watch the performance carefully!" Ash was getting a headache, seeing how Buneary was only focused on her idol, Pikachu, and forgetting to watch the performance on stage. Dawn wanted Buneary to gain some experience, but it seemed difficult to achieve.
"When your idol is right in front of you, it's easy to lose all sense of reason. I have personal experience with this," the experienced Brock said with a laugh. No one knew better than him what it felt like when a beautiful woman was right in front of you. But he also looked at Pikachu with a hint of envy and hatred. Why did this yellow mouse get the same treatment as him? They were both single! This wasn't fair!
"Dawn, you're amazing! You actually surpassed me this time!" In the waiting room, Kenny walked up to the graceful girl in the pink dress and complimented her.
"No, not at all!" Dawn said, not being humble at all. She put her hands on her hips and replied proudly, "This is not all my credit. I have to thank Ash, too!" She played with her hair, satisfied with her look. It showed that Ash was truly amazing at everything.
"..." Kenny looked at the smiling girl and had no desire to continue the conversation. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth and didn't know what to say. Dawn didn't care about her childhood friend; she just stood in front of the mirror, admiring Ash's handiwork.
"It looks so good. I wish he could help me get ready every morning!" Dawn said dreamily. Kenny, who couldn't stand it, left early, afraid that his heart would be broken again.
On stage, Ash was unaware of all this. He was sitting bored, analyzing the stats of each of his Pokémon. Currently, his team consisted of Pikachu, Snorlax, Pidgeot, Starly, Turtwig, and Aipom.
Looking at the team composition, his two scout-type Pokémon, Pidgeot and Starly, had conflicting roles. He shouldn't have two Flying-type Pokémon. Normally, one would be enough. However, considering that Starly still needed Pidgeot to teach it Flying-type moves, he decided to send both of them back. The lab also had Staraptor and Noctowl's experience that could be passed on to Starly. Especially the "bug-like" Staraptor. If Starly learned just a bit of its essence, it could make a name for itself in future Sinnoh battles.
As for Pikachu and Snorlax, there was no need to mention them. Pikachu was his old friend; there was no way he would ever send him back. As for Snorlax, it still needed to stay with him until it learned all its moves. Aipom, on the other hand, was a different story. She was a constant whiner. Ash had tried to send her back more than once, but Aipom would refuse and constantly make a whining sound. Considering that Aipom was one of the few girls on his team, he decided to let her stay for now.
As for Turtwig, it was close to evolving. Ash planned to battle more with it in the next few days to see if it could evolve before the Oreburgh Gym. So, all in all, he had to send Pidgeot and Starly back to the lab for training. As for the Pokémon he would bring back, it would definitely be Scizor and Sceptile, who both had quick "grinding" capabilities. Yes, he was already planning to bring Sceptile over. As the team's Grass-type veteran, Sceptile could teach Turtwig some things. Although their fighting styles were different, they would have some moves in common. For example, Sceptile could teach Turtwig Bullet Seed, saving him from using a TM.
"The second round of performances is about to begin. Let's invite Miss Dawn and..." The announcer's voice brought Ash back to reality. He silently made his decision and watched as Dawn was about to go on stage. Dawn's Pachirisu was up against Jessie, who was disguised as "Jessilina," and her Dustox. Come to think of it, the two Pokémon were old rivals.
"You little brat! This time, my Dustox and I will get back what we've lost!" Jessie and Dustox were burning with the desire for revenge. Unfortunately, in front of the greatly improved Dawn, they were easily defeated. After defeating the unwilling Jessie, Dawn advanced to the finals, where her opponent was her childhood friend, Kenny.
"A battle between childhood friends!" Brock seemed to be very interested in this and kept emphasizing it to Ash. The final battle unfolded just like a normal story. Dawn, with a slight advantage, defeated Kenny's Prinplup with her Piplup. Under Kenny's complex gaze, she took the final victory.
"I won!" Dawn hugged Piplup excitedly. She glanced at Ash in the audience and happily waved her hand.
"This girl..." Seeing how happy Dawn was, Ash didn't care about the people around him and waved back.