Kashiwagi and Mawile hunched over the sketchbook, deep in discussion.
"Ma-wile..."
Mawile studied the sequence of drawings for several seconds, then nodded firmly, signaling she understood the concept.
Dawn and Piplup peeked at the sketches from the side.
"Your drawings are incredible," Dawn remarked.
"Do you always sketch out the entire routine on paper before performing it?"
"No," Kashiwagi shook his head with a smile.
"This is just a rough draft."
"A rough draft?"
"Exactly. It's a process I've drawn out based on theory, without any experimentation. The actual performance by Mawile will be far more complex and might not look exactly like these drawings.
In simple terms, this is just 'Version 1.0'."
"Version 1.0..." Dawn rested her chin in her hand, deep in thought.
In many ways, she was similar to Ash—a "go-getter" who designed everything in her head and adjusted on the fly during practice. That style heavily relied on the unspoken bond and chemistry between the Trainer and the Pokémon. So far, that intuitive mode suited Dawn perfectly.
"Let's give it a try."
Kashiwagi pulled two small folding fans from his pocket and handed them to Mawile.
The Contest officials didn't mind auxiliary props as long as they weren't excessive.
What counted as "excessive"? For example, the rainbow-making machine Jessie once used. Her Dustox produced a rainbow every time it moved, but the rainbow came from a hidden machine, not the moves. Her entry was disqualified immediately.
Mawile took the fans, snapping them open and shut with practiced agility.
This wasn't her first time using them; she had insisted on buying them after becoming captivated by the Kimono Girls' dances at the Ecruteak Dance Theater. Unfortunately, she hadn't found a way to use them in her last Contest.
"Ma-wile~"
She caught Piplup watching her with a look of pure "worship." She tried to remain dignified, but a hint of smugness still crept onto her face.
"Piplup! Give them some space!" Dawn scooped up the heart-eyed penguin to give Mawile room to work.
The first rehearsal officially began.
"One, two, three... and... start!" Kashiwagi snapped his fingers as the signal.
Mawile held the fans and began to move. Her posture was nimble yet possessed a certain solemn grace. The red silk ribbons behind her head fluttered in the sea breeze, and her Soothe Bell chimed softly with every movement.
Ding-ling~ Ding-ling~
Every step she took and every turn she made gave Dawn a sense of refreshing elegance—and she hadn't even used a move yet.
"What a lovely scent..."
Dawn caught a whiff of a delicate fragrance carried by the breeze. Just as she was about to ask Kashiwagi about it, Mawile tapped her foot lightly, and a pale blue mist began to drift out.
As the footwork increased in pace, the mist grew thicker.
In an instant, Mawile was surrounded by a swirling haze. A dim blue light illuminated her body without letting the vapor completely obscure her.
Through the drifting mist, Mawile's silhouette appeared and disappeared. With a gentle flick of her fans, the mist seemed to come alive, circling her body like a sentient creature.
Sometimes the mist rose like a wall, veiling her to create an ethereal beauty; then it would dissipate, and Mawile would dance like a young deer in a morning forest, glancing back at Dawn and Piplup with a playful smile.
Pure innocence mixed with fey-like spirit—Mawile was performing both perfectly!
But before Dawn and Piplup could take it all in, Mawile vanished into the haze again. Shadows flickered within the blue-tinted light, pushing the mystery and anticipation to their limits.
This dance was inspired by the Ecruteak Dance Theater. Mawile had been practicing it for a long time and was quite proficient. With the added effects of the incense and the Soothe Bell, it was truly moving.
Honestly, they could have stopped right there. There were plenty of performances that earned high marks through dance alone. But Kashiwagi and Mawile were aiming higher; a score like 29.5 wasn't enough to satisfy them.
"Now, Ice Punch!" he commanded.
"Ma-wile!"
Mawile responded from within the mist. A single spark of ice-blue light flickered—and then... nothing.
Dawn and Piplup, who were waiting for a grand finale, tilted their heads in unison, question marks virtually floating over their beanies.
"Huh?"
"Pip-lup?"
"A failure, then."
Kashiwagi wasn't surprised. He waved away the mist and walked over to Mawile. She was staring blankly at her fans, which were now covered in thick white frost and frozen solid.
Is this a 'Freeze' status? she wondered. Don't I have the Sheer Force ability? Why did the fans freeze?
"Silly," Kashiwagi said, patting her cheek.
"Sheer Force sacrifices secondary effects to maximize the destructive power of elemental energy, but it doesn't mean you can bypass the laws of nature. When you drop the move's power to a certain level, you can't suppress those natural phenomena."
He inspected the frost. "You should have noticed this when you froze the river water before. You need to use your full strength for this next part."
In the anime world, Abilities didn't always follow the rigid rules of the games.
For instance, many Weather or Entry-hazard Abilities could be controlled by the Pokémon's will—like the countless Pelipper in Hoenn that don't constantly have rain clouds over their heads.
Based on Kashiwagi's experiments, as long as the move's raw power was dialed back, the elemental energy would still behave like a natural force: Fire Fang could light wood, Thunder Fang could numb limbs, and Ice Punch could cause freezing.
"Ma-wile." Mawile nodded, only half-understanding.
Dawn and Piplup ran over, looking worried. "Is everything okay?"
"Pip-lup, Pip-lup?"
"It's fine. The first test was just a failure," Kashiwagi explained. "I wanted the Ice Punch to extend onto the fans and then diffuse outward, but doing it in practice is much harder than I imagined."
Dawn looked at the fans in Mawile's hands. "Whoa, they're completely frozen!"
"Yeah, the cold energy is trapped in the fan blades and won't release." He took a fan from Mawile. He wondered if it would even be usable once the ice melted and it dried out.
They had bought several similar fans since Mawile liked so many different patterns, and this one was her least favorite—which was why she'd used it for the test. Still, it felt like a waste to ruin it.
"We better find a substitute to practice with until we get it right," he told Mawile.
"Ma-wile."
She nodded, falling into a pensive silence.