A/N I really hope that you guys are reading this somewhere you can listen to the music because it is WAY more impactful if you can listen to the song while reading the descriptions of the performance ^.^ I hope you enjoy the finale of the performances! We still have one more chapter for the battles to see who wins the tournament though, so hopefully you are enjoying it :D

"O.M.Goodness, Dawn!! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" I turned and braced myself as Leia threw her arms around me excitedly and I let out a shaky chuckle. "Oh my goodness, you're soaked!" Leia yelped before leaping away from me, wiping her dress protectively and I bowed slightly.

"Sorry about that, Leia. That performance with the Whirlpool and the snow normally gets me pretty wet. Do you mind if I go get changed?" I asked politely and she smiled.

"Well, it was effective so that's all that matters! And of course, go ahead."

With a wave I ducked into a changing room and slowly let a shaky breath out. The top eight had been announced and my picture had shown up right after Kailani's, which had caused my heart to race. But even more than the fact that I had beaten Traavi in a performance round, my body was shaking from pent up nervous energy. 

Even though I was drenched and should feel cold, the thought of Paul's amethyst eyes watching me intently as I danced made my entire body feel warm. Part of that was a blush though and I wondered if Paul had listened to the lyrics of the songs. Each performance I was giving was for Paul and I chose songs that held messages that I wanted to convey to him, so I hoped that he was paying attention. 

Although it may actually make him pull farther away, I thought with worry but I shook my head and changed out of the dress that Serena and I bought together yesterday before pulling out the outfit that she had presented to me this morning.

I looked at the bold outfit and smiled, gratitude rushing through me as I thought of everything that Serena had done to support me and help me through this last month. Smiling gently I toweled off my skin to make sure I was completely dry before slipping on the intricate outfit she had given me. Serena told me it was a "Dark Elf" dress and I hoped that I would be able to pull off the ethereal outfit. 

The top was basically a fancy black bikini top with intricate gold swirls around the edge of the material. It somehow fit me perfectly, contouring to my curves and not showing off anything while being held up with two thin black straps, and two identical black straps fell against my upper arms. Black sleeves fastened above my elbow by a gold clasp and the top of the sleeve stopped above my wrist and then cascaded down to the floor in a beautiful wave of silky fabric.

The skirt was made of the same flowy material as the false sleeves and a gold belt fastened tightly against my waist, keeping the skirt firmly in place right below my belly button. The back and sides of the skirt flowed to the ground, but the front of the skirt stopped above my knees. However, a long strip of fabric fell from the middle of the belt and spilled down to the floor as well. Delicate gold chains spilled from the top and hooked down onto the belt to make it seem more like a dress instead of a two piece and Serena had bought me delicate gold earrings, a necklace, and gold-netted fingerless gloves to complete the look.

The finishing touch was a gold chain that looked almost like a crown that I held in place with bobby pins so that it would stay on my head as I danced. Nervousness overtook me for a second as I thought of the song that I was going to be dancing to in just a few minutes. Part of me had doubted that Paul would come today and I threw caution to the wind with my choice for this third song. Now that I knew he was out there and watching me nervousness and a little bit of recklessness bubbled through me. Part of me hoped that Paul would listen and understand what I was trying to say to him, and another part hoped that he wouldn't pay attention at all since he may misunderstand.

"Is your boy toy outside?" 

My spine snapped straight. I turned to look at Traavi, attempting to keep the rage and annoyance from my expression, but from his widening eyes I didn't think I did very well.

"Traavi! Can you help me with my necklace?" someone called from across the prep area.

Traavi continued staring at me for several seconds before slowly turning to where Kailani had walked up to him, holding out a necklace to him with an imperious expression.

"Sure," he agreed without his usual teasing tone and as he went around to drape the necklace from behind her small frame she shot me a look full of loathing. 

I rolled my eyes at her and stood up, feeling a brief moment of pleasure as Kailani's eyes widened when she took in my full outfit with touched up makeup. I knew that there were plenty of girls prettier than I was, but it was nice to know that I could be at least a little intimidating to this jealous princess.

"Good luck with your performances you two," I said before walking past them, my short heels clicking quietly as my skirt and sleeves billowed behind me.

"Woooaahhh. Who are you trying to impress?" Leia's energetic voice greeted me and I felt myself blush slightly.

'Is it too much?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"Are you kidding? You look hot! But seriously, are you dating that cute guy with the purple hair that saved you from the pack of monkeys back in Konikoni?" Leia asked in a hushed voice.

I felt my automatic blush fade as all of the blood in my cheeks seemed to rush away. Even so, I attempted to smile.

"No..." I replied awkwardly and she cocked her head, looking at me sympathetically.

"What happened? He was totally acting like a knight in shining armor for you," she said quietly and I sighed.

"It's complicated," I sighed sadly and she let out an understanding 'hmmmm'.

"That's always the worst. But don't worry, when he sees you in this get up and dancing for all you are worth on the stage he'll be sure to fall for you," Leia encouraged with a twinkle in her eye and I forced a smile.

Unfortunately, he's already fallen for me. He just won't let me stay with him, I thought sadly but then I shook my head and refocused. 

This last month hadn't just been dance practice. All of my pokemon had mastered at least one new move that would be super useful in any normal battle and whatever happened today, I was going to throw myself into training for the pokemon league. There was no way I was going to let Paul leave me behind without a fight.

"Welcome back everyone from that brief intermission!" Keanu's bubbly voice floated from the large TV's in the preparation room that the Aether Foundation had provided us and I walked over to watch.

"We have been delighted with incredible performances for the past hour and now we are going to have the amazing experience of seeing our top eight compete with three of their pokemon in the most epic performances yet! So put your hands together and welcome out our two-time Tournament Star, Kailani!"

The crowd called out ecstatically and Kailani walked out of the prep area without looking back, her head held high on her petite neck. I turned my attention back to the TV and watched as she climbed onto the large stage and released her Vaporeon, Alolan Raichu, and Tsareena.

"I wish people knew what she was really like."

I jumped in fright before turning to see that Traavi had inserted himself into the spot next to me.

"Even if she's hard to get along with, that doesn't mean she isn't fantastic at performances," I responded as I watched her dance and create a combination of Shadow, Electro, and Energy Ball to create a stunning fireworks display as she and her pokemon danced elegantly around the stage.

"Sure she's good, but who wants to deal with her uppity attitude?" Traavi asked with a grumble and I chewed the inside of my cheek since I didn't want to mess up my lipstick.

"You know that she likes you, right?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't overstepping my bounds. I figured that Kailani hated me anyways, so I didn't think it would make much difference whether I spoke up or not. Traavi looked down at me with an incredulous expression and he scoffed.

"Kailani? She doesn't like me, she just hates losing and she knows that I'll never look at her like that," Traavi said bluntly and I winced.

"I think it might be more than that," I rebutted quietly and Traavi shook his head.

"Even if she did, I'm nineteen and she's barely fifteen, there's no way I would make a pass at her." 

Frowning slightly I figured he had a bit of a point there. I didn't think that four years was a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it could make things more complicated. Especially in the teenager phase.

"Well, just try to be nicer to her then," I cajoled and he raised a suspicious eye at me.

"I told you who I like," Traavi said firmly, looking into my eyes but I looked away awkwardly.

"And I told you I'm not your girl," I refuted quietly as I turned my attention back to the TV to watch Kailani wrap up her performance. 

Smooth skin brushed against my arm and I looked over to see that Traavi had folded his arms and was staring at the screen but he had moved slightly so that our arms were touching. I moved a fraction over so that I was closer to Leia. Either he didn't notice my retreat or at least didn't acknowledge it, and I was grateful he didn't try to touch me again.

Leia was up next after Kailani and I wished her luck. To my surprise, Kailani didn't come back into the tent prep after her performance. I wondered where she had gotten to, but it was quickly forgotten as I watched Leia's performance. Her dance was elegant and graceful and she used her Rockruff, Espeon, and Butterfree. I smiled when she used Stealth Rock and then used Psychic to move the rocks around to form pictures during their dance and I hoped that she would make it into the top four.

Traavi was silent until it was his turn to perform and he only nodded when I wished him luck. I sighed quietly but I enjoyed his fiery performance very much. As the minutes ticked by it took more effort to not play with my hair or chew my lip out of nervousness and I wondered if I had really made the right song choice.

"Dawn, you're up next!" A worker called.

I gulped, smiling quickly at Leia as she wished me luck and I slowly made my way over to the worker. She led me down the hallway and to the double doors that would open up just a few yards from the main stage. I bowed politely as she wished me luck with my performance and I brushed my hip where my Pokeballs were securely attached.

Please let this work out. I thought silently as I heard the cheers from the audience as the performer finished. 

Taking a deep breath I stood tall, and when the door opened I walked out as confidently as I could. I nodded to the performer who had just gone and he nodded back to me before we walked by each other. Trying to remain calm and composed I didn't look out at the audience until I was center stage. I briefly raised my eyes and searched through the masses to try and find Paul, but the stadium was too big and I couldn't see him at first glance so I steeled myself and took a long breath before nodding at the DJ.

As a female voice hummed briefly at the beginning of the song I released three of my pokemon all at once. I had chosen the same seal for each of their Pokeballs and an eerie purple and black mist pooled out of the Pokeballs as I tossed them above my head and slowly, one by one, Mirageon, Oricorio, and Ribombee all emerged from the mist and came to stand in front of me.

As the female vocalist began to sing the first verse all four of us began to walk forward making slow and deliberate movements with our arms/wings/ribbons. When "I wanna see inside your head" was sung all three of us grabbed our heads and swayed expressively. We then pointed several times to our temples and and my pokemon all bowed their heads while I placed a hand over my chest and breathed exaggeratedly. Staying where I was I continued to dance expressively as Ribombee flew up above my head. Oricorio crossed to a spot a little ahead of me to the right, and Mirageon crossed to the left and stopped perpendicular from Oricorio.

When the vocalist said "I want you to stay, stay" for the first time I raised my left hand from my hip up to the sky and exactly on cue Mirageon let loose two small streams of Shadow Balls that began to swing around us and I pulled my arms back into my chest and slowly moved down and to the side as I bent my knees. The second time the line was repeated I pointed upwards and Ribombee let loose several tiny Energy Balls that began to float above all our heads, following the same pattern as the Shadow Balls.

On the line "Now, would you fight for me?" I walked forward purposefully and threw out a punch, then returned my hand to my chest and pumped my chest twice before leaning back and sweeping my arm down on the word "die". I danced back with one arm reaching towards the audience and my hand clenched in a fist against my stomach, but when the line that said "I want you to stay, stay" was repeated I raised my right hand and Oricorio let loose two rounds of Feather Dance which created pure white, shimmering feathers that floated up around my shoulder level.

As the second verse began my pokemon came back to form our line and we danced, all completely in sync, while the Shadow Balls and feathers began to rise up past us slowly and Ribombee's Energy Balls began to drift down so all three moves were interweaving around each other just a foot above my head. After we had once again done the actions for "stop and take a breath" my pokemon split from our dance line, although they were all still doing the dance moves, as Oricorio now went to my left, Mirageon went to my right, and Ribombee again flew up over my head.

On the first line of the chorus I spun to the left and Oricorio let loose an Air Slash attack that shatter the feathers, Energy Balls, and Shadow Balls on the left third of the stage, creating an explosion of green and purple sparkles and glimmers of white feathers to cascade down over her. I continued to dance, looking out over the audience and subconsciously seeking out a pair of amethyst eyes.

As the words of "Why don't you stay, stay" rang out I spun to the right and Mirageon's crown glowed and a glittering gem appeared above her before shattering into dozens of shards and streaking towards the floating orbs and feathers above the right third of the stage, once again causing a shower of sparkles to cascade over her as we continued to dance. If I hadn't been so focused on the dance I would have smiled broadly at Mirageon's amazing aim with her new move, Power Gem.

This time on the "fight for me" line I Iet loose a side kick towards the audience and I knew my three pokemon had done their own versions of a fighting pose, but we all then chest popped and swooped our arms (or ribbons) down on the "die for me" line and Mirageon and Oricorio elegantly returned to my side as the final "Why don't you stay, stay" rang out and Ribombee let loose a massive Bug Buzz to explode the remaining feathers, Energy, and Shadow balls, showering us all with the glittering remains.

The song slowed as the bridge began and Mirageon, Oricorio, and Ribombee all began to dance away from me, taking their positions so they formed a slightly lopsided triangle with me in the center. As the lyric, "Your silence is a gun, gun, gun, gun" I created a gun shape with my hands and quickly pointed towards my pokemon one after another and finally to myself and like dominoes we all fell to the ground, although I stayed on my knees. On the next line I grabbed my head and shifted my shoulders jerkily as the word "one" was repeated four times. I let my hands fall and slowly rose up, knowing that my face was probably filled with pain that I couldn't control as the words "my love won't change" were sung. As they were repeated though my pokemon all got up. Mirageon stayed on the ground, Oricorio flew up to my chest height, and Ribombee once again flew over my head and they all began moving back to me.

As the vocalist sang out the word "Stay" powerfully I flung out my arms and all three of my pokemon used Double Team, creating dozens of copies of themselves. At the same time Ribombee let loose a powerful Dazzling Gleam that created a wall of pink sparkles for us as a backdrop and Mirageon used her other new move Earth Power to create a steaming geyser of yellow power to erupt behind us as I slowly brought my hands back towards my chest and leaned over.

When the vocalist repeated "Why don't you stay, stay" they repeated the intense move, but this time Oricorio used Mirror Move to create a second geyser shortly after Mirageon's first Earth Power so that there was one on either side of the stage. I continued the normal dance moves for the chorus, although I was even more expressive this time as Ribombee and Oricorio's doubles glided in intricate patterns around me and Mirageon's doubles danced elegantly in a circle around me.

The Dazzling Gleam and Earth Power explosions were repeated as the words "Stay, Stay" were sung for the last time. The song was coming to an end and as the words "Oh oh oh" were repeated several times. I began to dance towards the front of the stage while first Oricorio used Air Slash to remove half of Ribombee's Doubles, then Mirageon used Power Gem to remove half of Oricorio's doubles, and Ribombee used Bug Buzz to remove half of Mirageon's doubles. 

The remaining all followed me as we danced towards the front of the stage and on the very last note they released their remaining doubles and "magically" appeared in our ending position. Ribombee was laying across my head, Oricorio draped herself backwards over one of my shoulders, and Mirageon laid on her back in my arms as I turned my head away from the audience and towards my empty shoulder.

Tears were prickling my eyes and my chest heaved from the exertion of the emotional and intense song and I hardly even registered the wild screams coming from the stadium filled with spectators. My pokemon and I held our positions for a few more seconds and then Oricorio and Ribombee flew off me and Mirageon jumped down so we could all take our bows. 

As I looked up over the crowd that was screaming wildly I briefly wiped away a stray tear and finally found Paul. He was standing up and I absently noticed that he was standing next to Ash who was clapping like crazy, but he was too far away for me to read his expression. I rolled my lips against each other, nervously. The song's chorus hadn't been exactly the way I felt, and I didn't want him to think I blamed him for choosing his promise to his mom over me... But even if I did understand his reasoning, I wanted him to know without a doubt that my greatest wish was for him to stay with me.

"Give it up again for Dawn, the Angel of Sinnoh!" Keanu's voice pulled me from my thoughts and I blinked over at her, smiling awkwardly. "Your performances today have been amazing, but this is probably the most dramatic performance I have ever seen! Do you have any words you'd like to leave with the judges before we call in the next performer?"

"Thank you for the opportunity," I said automatically, bowing to the judges and the crowd and I smiled when all of my pokemon bowed as well. Another thunderous applause came from the crowd and I smiled tiredly and waved before leaving Keanu on the stage.

My heart was racing as I walked back to the prep area and I hardly noticed when Traavi walked by me to give his own performance. Leia immediately glomped me into a hug when I walked through the doors and for the first time I realized that I was shaking slightly. Looking down I saw my pokemon looking at me with a worried expression and I blinked several times before returning Leia's hug and smiling down at my three precious friends.

"You all were absolutely amazing out there. Thank you so much for your hard work," I said sincerely. Mirageon and Ribombee smiled happily and Oricorio turned up her beak in a superior expression which made me laugh.

"That really was an amazing performance, Dawn. I could hardly believe the amazing effects you three were able to create!" Leia squealed excitedly as she looked at my pokemon.

"Just because something is flashy doesn't mean it's impressive," a caustic voice said from my left. I looked over at Kailani, who had apparently come back to the prep area while I was gone.

"Don't be mean, Kailani. Dawn's performance was more than just flashy, it was emotional and powerful. You're just jealous," Leia accused with obvious annoyance. 

I looked over at her with surprise, since the last time Kailani insulted my performance she had seemed rather intimidated by the young starlet. Kailani also seemed surprised by the outburst and she frowned and turned, walking over purposefully to stand in front of the TV to watch Traavi's performance.

"Thanks for that," I whispered to Leia and she smiled over at me.

"No problem. What are friends for?" 

We sat next to each other for the final performances and we both reached for each others hand as Keanu came back onto the stage to announce the top four.

"Thank you all for your hard work and making this competition so spectacular! In the next few seconds the top four contestants will appear on the screen above me and then we will take a five minute break before the first of our semi-final battle rounds will commence. Is everyone ready to see who our finalists are?"

The roar of the crowd could be heard even back in the prep room and Leia squeezed my hand tightly. Keanu took a step back and looked up at the screen. After a few seconds my eyes widened and my free hand flew to my mouth as my picture was the first one to appear, followed by Kailani, Traavi, and Leia.

I beat Kailani.... I thought in shock.

Leia's excited whoops pulled me out of my frozen state and we both rushed over to the door, still holding each other's hands as we took to the stage again. I waved excitedly out at the crowd and immediately looked to where Paul had been standing during my performance. My smile faltered when I didn't see him, but Ash, Serena, May, and Drew were all cheering and waving at me so I waved back enthusiastically.

"Well done top four! The screen will now randomly pair the four of you up to see who will be battling who for the semi-final double battle round. So everyone, please turn your attention to the screen!" 

I turned around and craned my neck to look up at the jumbo screen far above our heads. Our pictures all flipped over and then an image of the pictures being shuffled came on. I watched as Kailani's picture pulled up in the first spot and I felt my heart pause for a miilisecond as my picture then slid into the second position, marking that we would be the first double battle in the semi-final round.

"And there we have it! For the semi-final round our head judge, the very first Tournament Star Miss Alani, will be giving us the theme for this semi-final battle." 

A cheer went up through the crowd as Alani stood up and waved elegantly to the crowd.

"Well, ladies and gentleman, the theme for this battle round will be 'The Passion of a Storm', and the theme type will be Electric." 

A cheer came from the audience and I tried not to show my unease at the announcement of the typing. I found myself looking towards the spot Paul had occupied a while ago and frowned when he still wasn't there.

"Go prepare your pokemon for your battles ladies and we will see you back in just five minutes!" Keanu said with a grin. I tore my gaze away from Paul's empty seat and followed the other finalists off the stage.

"I will not lose to you," Kailani announced fiercely as we walked over to the instacare nursing station that was available for the contestants. 

Turning to meet her eyes I felt a little sorry for her and I wondered what made her act so abrasive. However, I didn't have time to dwell on it and I refused to be intimidated by her.

"I'm sorry Kailani, but I made a promise that I will not lose a battle to anyone until the pokemon league," I said firmly as I handed Mirageon's Pokeball over to one of the nurse's at the counter, who then whisked away to heal her up. "And I don't plan on breaking that promise."