"Dawn, are you... are you okay?"
Ash, who had already advanced to the finals, was in the waiting room when he saw Dawn return after her defeat.
"A... Ash, don't worry, I'm absolutely fine! And congratulations on making it to the finals, Ash, you have to do your best!"
Facing Ash's concern, the girl pretended to be strong. There was not a single hint of sadness or grief on her face. She clenched her fists and shouted at Ash and Pikachu, even showing concern for Ash himself.
"Dawn..." Although the girl said she was fine, Ash could clearly see that something was wrong. But seeing her put on a brave face, he knew she didn't want to show her vulnerable side, which left him with no way to help her. He could only watch as she left the waiting room and walked toward the outside of the stadium.
Ash, worried about Dawn, quietly followed her until she stopped in front of a phone booth.
"She's going to call her mom!" Seeing the girl's actions, he remembered this scene from the anime. With that, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. With the help of top coordinator Johanna, I'm sure Dawn will get out of this slump soon."
After watching Dawn cry to her mother, Ash finally felt at ease and returned to the waiting room with Pikachu to prepare for the final match.
"Dawn, don't forget, you are a trainer with many friends. In the future, no matter if you win or lose, you shouldn't come crying to me first. You should talk to your friends." On the phone, Johanna scolded her daughter with a serious expression, guiding her in the right direction.
"Mom..." The girl's face became solemn. After a moment, she looked up, wiped away her tears, and responded with newfound strength, "I understand, Mom!"
Seeing this, Johanna smiled with relief and said in a gentle voice, "Good luck, Dawn. Mom will always be your strongest support!"
"Yeah!" Dawn nodded solemnly. After saying goodbye to her mother, she hung up the phone and returned to the waiting room, ready to watch Ash and Zoey's final match.
On the Pokémon Contest stage, the final match between Ash and Zoey had already begun. The ownership of the ribbon would be decided between the two of them. This time, Ash once again sent out Aipom, and his opponent, Zoey, also sent out Glameow.
"Use Swift!" Ash seized the opportunity first, having Aipom launch an attack.
"Aipom!" Aipom jumped into the air with a 360-degree flip. At the same time, its tail glowed golden, and it summoned a bunch of glittering Swift stars that rushed toward Glameow.
"Use Shadow Claw!" Glameow's two paws were covered in an energy claw, and it prepared to tear through the Swift stars, hoping to defend against the attack and reduce Ash's points. Unfortunately, things were not as simple as Zoey had imagined.
When the Swift stars reached Glameow, it realized that its Shadow Claw couldn't block all of them. Because the Swift stars were spiraling toward Glameow, even with two hands, it was difficult to block them all.
"How is this possible!" Zoey exclaimed in surprise. She then realized that his opponent's Swift was not the usual straight-line attack.
"Aipom!" Aipom was very happy, and Ash himself smiled. This was a technique he had specifically created for Aipom, called the "Star Jiggle Technique," inspired by a certain movie's "Gun Jiggle Technique." When they first started practicing, it was a complete mess, and Ash didn't expect Aipom to actually learn it. But the result was surprisingly good. This technique was actually quite useful. The spiraling trajectory made it difficult for the opponent to defend, and it was almost impossible for them to block all the attacks. It was similar to the Counter Shield that Ash had created.
"That move is amazing!" In the waiting room, Dawn, who had recovered, happened to see this scene. She hugged Pikachu and couldn't help but exclaim. For some reason, she wanted to learn that move.
"Focus Punch!" On the stage, Aipom was briefly in mid-air. Its tail glowed with a white light, and after charging, it once again performed a 360-degree spin and used Focus Punch, slamming down on the Glameow below.
"Counter with Iron Tail!" Since Glameow's tail was spring-shaped, it could easily counter Aipom's downward Focus Punch with Iron Tail.
"Screech!" Facing Glameow's action, Ash naturally had a countermove. Just as the two were about to make contact, an indescribable noise came from Aipom's mouth, causing Zoey to instinctively cover her ears. If trainers outside the field couldn't stand it, what about Glameow, which was closest to Aipom? The intense noise was too much for Glameow, and it couldn't help but cover its ears. At the same time, Aipom's Focus Punch landed on Glameow's face. The defenseless Glameow was sent flying with a single punch.
"Oh no, if this continues..." Zoey's face turned pale at Glameow's state. She knew they couldn't go on like this. There wasn't much time left in the match.
"Heh, he's grown up. He's even using support moves now!" In the audience, Brock saw the Screech move and couldn't help but feel impressed by how much Ash had grown. The old Ash would have just blindly rushed forward and wouldn't have considered a strategy. He was like a completely different person compared to before.
"Meow!" On the stage, Glameow struggled to stand, but its twitching body showed that it was badly injured. After all, a Fighting-type Focus Punch was 2x super-effective on Glameow.
"Use Focus Punch one more time!" Seeing that his opponent was weakened, Ash quickly told Aipom to finish the job. If Glameow took another Focus Punch, it would definitely be knocked out.
"Use Protect!" Zoey frantically yelled. Glameow didn't disappoint and successfully put up a light green shield to block the fatal Focus Punch.
"Double Team!" Glameow split into five, hoping to confuse Aipom and stall for time.
"We'll use Double Team, too!" Aipom calmly created five more clones of itself around Glameow's clones, completely surrounding them.
"Swift!" Aipom and its clones all used Swift together. The stage turned into an ocean of golden five-pointed stars, drowning both Glameow and Aipom's clones.
"Glameow!" Zoey yelled helplessly, but there was no response. When the golden five-pointed stars disappeared, only a knocked-out Glameow and a standing Aipom remained.
"Glameow is unable to battle! The winner is, contestant Ash from Pallet Town!"
With Marian's announcement, the Jubilife City Ribbon finally had an owner.