PoKéMoN CHRONICLES Written by LonelyChampion

Thunder and Pearl

Dawn, Ash, and Brock were nervously waiting in the backstage area of the Solaceon City Contest Hall. All that was on Dawn's mind was thinking whether or not she had done enough to wow the judges during the appeal round.

"Ambipom, spotlight!" Dawn cheered as the Long Tail Pokémon was released from it's pokéball with confetti raining down upon it due to the seal Dawn had given it. "Double hit, let's go!" In an instant, a barrage of powerful shockwaves were sent through the auditorium. "Now use swift!" Ambipom performed a backflip and landed on one arm as it began to spin in a circle, with stars emitting from its tails. As the stars continued to fly upward and collide with each other, it sent beautiful sparkles showering across the audience.

"Awesome!" Ash yelled.

"That's an even better swift than when those two were practicing it!" Brock added. Piplup, Pikachu, Bunneary, and Pachirusu stood in awe as the sparkles continued to rain down.

"Ambipom faster!" Dawn encouraged. Following it's trainer's orders, Ambipom began to spin faster causing an abundance of stars to twirl in the air. While impressive, it didn't have the desired effect on some people.

"Gotta love that rainbow swift!" Ash commented.

"Hm, don't you think it's a bit much?" Brock retorted.

"But Brock, it's gotta catch the crowd's attention y'know! Right?" Ash responded as he turned to the Pokémon cheerleaders to his side. All the Pokémon agreed by cheering in unison. However, one could easily tell the judges weren't as dazzled as Ash made it seem, as they kept a straight face, seemingly unimpressed.

"Now finish it off, Ambipom!" Dawn said. With that, Ambipom's spinning gradually slowed until it came to a stop. Once it did, the crowd erupted with cheering. Dawn, whilst giggling, ran over to embrace her Pokémon. "Wow! You were so great!" Dawn complimented. Both her and Ambipom smiled at each other before turning to the audience as she continued to laugh and wave.

A voice came over the television backstage, breaking Dawn out of her thoughts.

"We have a decision!" Marian exclaimed. "The coordinators that have made it past the first stage!" Dawn looked down at Ambipom, who had a worried expression.

"C'mon Ambipom, no need to worry! It's time for us to get ready for the second round!" Dawn said, trying to ease it's nerves.

"And now, here are the official results!" Marian returned. "The eight coordinators moving on to the second stage! And they're on screen!" The first four faces appeared. Seen could be Jessilina and Kenny. In the crowd, James and Meowth were overjoyed, happy to see their fellow companion advance. Meanwhile backstage, Dawn, Ash, and Brock were congratulating Kenny. The next three coordinators were shown, with Dawn nowhere to be seen. She clasped her hands together, praying that she would be the last one. The face appeared on screen, and Dawn was crushed. She hadn't made it past the first round.

"What happened?" Dawn questioned. Ambipom looked to the ground, disappointed that they were eliminated. It wasn't hard to tell that it blamed itself for their quick departure from the contest. Back in Twinleaf Town, Dawn's mother got up from her television and made her way over to a wall of photographs consisting of both hers and Dawn's achievements.

"Poor Dawn…" she muttered out. Back in Solaceon City, Ash tried to reach out his hand to comfort Dawn, but was stopped by Brock. Understanding the situation, Ash sighed and lowered his hand, frustrated that he couldn't help one of his best friends. Dawn's head was lowered, looking to the ground. A mix of emotions were flowing through Dawn at the moment, mostly disappointment. Knowing she had to stay strong, at least in front of her friends, she put on a brave face.