A New Dream

The Sky is the Limit: Dawn's POV

I left my pokemon with the nurse and glanced around, wondering where Kailani was. She left the stage before I could even shake her hand and I hoped that she wasn't feeling too sad. I had lost so many times at this stage of a Grand Festival that I had a good idea of what she was feeling right now and even though I knew she disliked me, I wished I could do something for her.

Sighing slightly I thanked the nurse when she came back with my Pokeballs after a few minutes and returned to the prep tent, not surprised when I didn't see Kailani there either. I took one of the many empty seats in front of the main TV showing Traavi and Leia's battle. Traavi had chosen his Marowak and Vikavolt for the battle, while Leia had gone with an Emolga and her Espeon. I watched their battle with interest and was slightly jealous of the way that Espeon was able to use Psychic to control some of the electric attacks, but it soon became obvious that Traavi was more seasoned in battle. He knocked out Espeon fairly easily and he eventually won because of points, but if the battle had dragged on anymore I was fairly certain he would have beaten Leia's Emolga as well.

"And our second finalist has been determined! Will Dawn please join us on the stage so the theme for the final battle can be announced?" 

Surprised that the workers hadn't come in to get me I stood up and hurried out to the stage. I blinked in surprise when a large cheer burst from the crowd when I began walking up the steps and I waved happily at them all. I tried not to stare too much at Paul, but now that I knew where he was sitting it was almost impossible not to look at him. I took my spot on Keanu's left and smiled when she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

"We have had so much fun watching you two perform and battle today. Now we are going to have the pleasure of seeing you battle each other! Professor Kukui, will you do the honor of telling us the theme for our final battle?" 

I looked down at the judges' table and smiled when I saw the young professor stand up with a huge grin on his face.

"This next battle's theme will be 'The Sky is the Limit' and the type theme will be flying. I'm excited to see the amazing moves you will show us, yeah!" he said expressively and I couldn't help but giggle slightly at his enthusiasm. 

Looking over Keanu's head I saw that Traavi was regarding me steadily. I allowed myself to give him a challenging look, which surprisingly made him smile.

"The battles will start in five minutes to allow Traavi time to prepare his pokemon. Good luck to you both!" Keanu said into her microphone. 

Traavi stepped over and offered his hand to me. I shook it with a smile and he grinned before letting go and leaving the stage to the right. I left the stage as well but I had already healed the pokemon I was going to use so I walked around the stage and took a few minutes to come up with a strategy for dealing with Traavi. To be honest I was a little nervous since I was pretty sure I knew which pokemon Traavi was going to use and he had obviously done a lot of training with both of them.

No need to worry, Dawn. Just be calm and strategic like Paul taught you and you'll be fine, I told myself firmly. 

The five minutes passed quicker than I could believe and I was once again walking up the steps to the stage. I took my spot that had been painted onto the stage and looked over at Traavi on the opposite side.

"Good luck," he said with a confident smirk and I placed a hand on my hip in a sassy gesture and quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You too," I replied with a slightly teasing grin and he smiled broadly.

Just as I had thought, he released his Braviary and Talonflame and I immediately released Oricorio and Piplup. I had to laugh a little because it looked like this was going to be a David vs Goliath type battle, but I was confident in my pokemon's abilities.