The time had quickly arrived for the second day, and the trio were at the contestant waiting room, preparing for the day's events.
"Hey, Ash, have you seen Dawn? I don't see her anywhere!" Brock asked, looking around. The competition was about to begin, and he and Ash were getting ready to look for her.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Just as they were about to go, Dawn, dressed in her outfit from the previous day, appeared before them and apologized. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I accidentally lost my necklace, but a girl helped me find it!"
"It's okay, you're just in time! The first round of judging is about to begin!" Ash reassured her, and they went to the waiting room together. As for Brock, he returned to the audience to cheer them on.
The first contestant to take the stage was a girl with short orange hair and a boyish look.
"That's the girl who helped me! Her name is Zoey." Dawn's blue eyes lit up at the sight of the familiar figure. She quickly introduced him to Ash and then focused on the performance. Ash simply nodded, remaining silent. He remembered the coordinator named Zoey, a formidable girl who was also one of Dawn's rivals.
As a great coordinator, Zoey's performance was incredibly skilled. Using Double Team, Psybeam, and Thunder Wave, she fully showcased Misdreavus's unique qualities, a masterful blend of its mysterious Ghost-type powers and her own coordinating skills. From the looks on the three judges' faces, they were quite pleased with Zoey's performance.
Perhaps because Zoey's performance was so outstanding, the next few contestants' performances were quite ordinary. However, the one in between, Jessilina (Jessie in disguise), caught everyone's attention with her bizarre style of catching a Cacnea's Pin Missile with her face. The most surprising part was that Jessie's self-harming style actually earned her praise from both the audience and the judges.
Ash couldn't understand it. How did that performance highlight her Pokémon's unique qualities? He couldn't see it, but he did see that Jessie's physique was extraordinary. The ability to endure Cacnea's attack with her body was a feat that could rival his own Super Pallet Town physique. After all, he remembered that she was able to use moves herself. After all, she was able to use her own fighting skills to catch her Arbok.
"Next up, we have contestant Ash!"
Just as Ash was reminiscing, the announcer's voice called his name. He quickly handed Pikachu to Dawn, straightened his clothes, and got ready to go on stage.
"Good luck, Ash!" Dawn waved her hand to cheer him on.
"I will!" Ash replied as he ran onto the Contest stage.
"The next contestant is the young man who has come all the way from Kanto, Mr. Ash Ketchum!"
Under the direction of the Sinnoh announcer, Marian, Ash came to the stage and threw a capsule with a star-shaped sticker. Along with the special rainbow stars, Aipom excitedly appeared on the stage. Right from the start, it used Swift as planned, colliding with the sticker stars to create a flash of brilliant light. This created a beautiful backdrop as Aipom landed on its tail.
"Whoa..." The very beginning of the performance drew cheers from the audience.
"Use Double Team!"
In an instant, nearly a dozen Aipom appeared on the stage, with several of them floating in mid-air.
"Now, Focus Punch!"
The hand on Aipom's tail curled into a fist, which slowly began to glow with a white light. At the same time, it spun rapidly in place like a top.
Bang, bang, bang!
As it spun and moved forward, it used Focus Punch, destroying all the shadow clones on the ground in a matter of seconds. Soon, only four shadow clones were left in the air.
"Alright, now use Swift!"
Aipom, which was standing on its tail, now put its feet on the ground, freeing up its tail. It then gave a light flick, throwing out a large number of Swift stars. But instead of flying out immediately, Aipom's excellent control caused the golden stars to surround its body. The entire scene looked like a starry river, with Aipom as the star of the show.
"Now, Acrobatics!"
Aipom threw out its tail and divided the surrounding Swift stars into four parts, which it then threw at the four shadow clones in the air. At the same time, it leaped into the air, joining the shadow clones. Together, the five figures, along with the Swift stars that were thrown out, connected with the real Aipom to form a giant golden five-pointed star.
The huge star lasted for about a second before it shattered, turning into glittering light that rained down. Aipom then performed a 720-degree flip, landing steadily on its tail in the last second, emphasizing the unique quality of its tail.
The performance was over, but the entire stadium was completely silent. After a few seconds, the audience finally snapped out of their trance and gave Ash and Aipom a thunderous applause.
"This is... This is absolutely incredible! The excellent use of Double Team and Focus Punch, and the most brilliant part, the use of Swift and Acrobatics, was the perfect finishing touch..." The announcer, Marian, excitedly grabbed the microphone to praise them.
"That was amazing! That's Ash for you!" Brock was surprised, but having witnessed Ash's growth, it was still within the realm of what he expected.
"That... Ash's performance was amazing!" Dawn, who was in the waiting room, watched Ash's performance on the screen, completely shocked. The breathtaking scene had left Dawn speechless. How could a coordinator with so little experience be so good?
"Pika!" Pikachu, who was on Dawn's shoulder, was also surprised, but it had seen Aipom's practice the day before, so it was relatively calm compared to Dawn.
"Contestant Dawn, please get ready to go on stage!" a staff member said, bringing Dawn back to reality.
"Okay, I'm coming!" Dawn quickly replied. She told Pikachu to wait in the waiting room and then ran down the contestant's hallway toward the stage.
"Good luck, Dawn! I'm looking forward to your performance!" Ash said with a smile as he saw Dawn in the hallway.
"No problem!" Dawn said with a confident smile, saying her classic catchphrase. She held out her hand to Ash.
Slap! The gesture made Ash pause for a second, then he smiled and gave her a light high-five. Accompanied by the clear sound, the girl in the pink dress walked onto the stage.