A New Dream

Salty Ocean, Salty Tears: Dawn's POV

I glanced down at her, debating on how angry she would be if I told her she looked twelve. She was taller than Lana, but not by much, and everything about her looked delicate and breakable, except for her apparent iron will.

"Happy Birthday," I said simply and she frowned at me. 

Stepping to the side I walked around her and took a seat to watch the performances. Cutiefly was still sitting dejectedly on my shoulder so I gently scooped her into the palm of my hand and brought her around to look at me.

"Hey, Lovely, don't listen to her. I chose you as my dance partner today because I knew you would do brilliantly. Thank you so much for a wonderful performance," I whispered to her. 

Cutiefly stood up on my palm, looking at me as if trying to tell if I was lying. Moving my hand up to my cheek I nuzzled her affectionately and to my delight, she cuddled my cheek as well.

Since none of the other performers had their pokemon out I decided to not release mine and just watched the performances with Cutiefly flitting from my knee, to my shoulder, to my head, and back again. There were even fewer guys than usually performing in this showdown and I watched as one after another girl dressed in a bikini danced around with varying degrees of success in their routines.

Kailani went last and as much as her comments and obvious hostility had set me on edge, I had to admit that her dance was absolutely beautiful. She partnered with an Alolan Raichu for her dance routine this time and the combinations of psychic and electricity created a dazzling spectacle that made the whole crowd cheer for her. I watched her smile and wave sweetly to the crowd and couldn't help but wonder what made her so standoffish when she was with other performers.

After Kailani left the stage Keanu returned and commented on how magnificent Kailani's performance was 'as usual'. I could feel the whole room hold their breath as the Nurse Joy at the judge's table stood up and handed an envelope to Keanu. 

Cutiefly flew up from my knee, buzzing in nervous excitement as Keanu pulled out the sheath of paper and read off the names. To no one's surprise, Kailani's name was called first, but the second name was me! Sighing in relief I jumped up and spun Cutiefly around, kissing my fingertip and tapping it on her little body before returning her to her Pokeball. Jonny and a girl named Leia also were called. Leia was one of the girls that had come up asking about my flying trick. To my surprise, she rushed over and hugged me excitedly so I hugged her back and congratulated her.

We all walked back onto the stage as Keanu asked us to join her to wild cheers and catcalls. Several girls were calling out Jonny's name and he smiled, putting two fingers to his lips and then holding them out in a peace sign, causing a few girls to scream enthusiastically and I looked over at him with amusement. 

I wonder if all alolan boys are flirts.

"Here they are! Your top four contestants." 

Another round of cheers rang out and Keanu clapped for us as well. As I looked out over the crowd I felt relieved when I saw Torterra and Paul hadn't left, even though Paul didn't seem to be paying attention. For the first time, I realized that Lana and Traavi were standing in the back with Paul as well. Lana was jumping up and down and waving enthusiastically while Traavi was grinning widely at me. He winked when I met his eyes and I smiled wryly at him before waving both of my hands at Lana to show I had seen her.

"Now these four contestants will have to battle it out, but this time it won't be a battle of pokemon, but a battle of skill!" Keanu called and I blinked several times in confusion, glad when I saw that many of the audience members seemed confused as well. "Each contestant will choose one pokemon to come with them as they take turns mantine surfing against each other! Whichever contestant that does the best trick while surfing without wiping out will win the battle round!" Keanu announced.