August 17. Time had flown by.
After leaving the Pokémon Theme Park,
Dawn, Ash, and the others had first gone to Lake Valor to compete in the Wallace Cup hosted by Wallace.
"The winner of the Aqua Ribbon is Dawn!"
Wallace's Ribbon could be used to qualify for the grand festival in any region, so the competition had been fierce.
Some even said that winning this Aqua Ribbon was what qualified someone to become a top Coordinator, or even a Master Tier Coordinator.
At the Wallace Cup, where powerful rivals had gathered,
Dawn had won the Aqua Ribbon.
As far as Dawn was concerned, that was only natural.
During her stay at the theme park, she had first received special training from Lance, then pointers from Red and Blue...
It would have been a little embarrassing if she still couldn't win the Aqua Ribbon after all that.
In the first round of appeals,
Dawn had commanded Galarian Ponyta to use Swift, successfully advancing thanks to the different hues its coat displayed under the light.
Of course, Dawn had also had a little luck on her side.
Ruby, who was obsessed with Pokémon Contests, had naturally intended to compete in the Wallace Cup hosted by his teacher, Wallace,
but something had come up at the last minute, leaving him unable to attend and removing a formidable rival from Dawn's path to victory.
Next, they had attended the Croagunk Festival held by Pastoria City in the Great Marsh.
After that, Ash had challenged the Pastoria Gym, defeated the masked powerhouse Crasher Wake, and earned the Fen Badge.
"Where should we go next?"
Consulting his travel guide, Brock suggested,
"Let's go to Alamos Town. They're holding a Pokémon Contest there, and it'll be at the Time Tower."
Dawn could enter the Pokémon Contest