After successfully making their way through the first round of the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest, Dawn, Ursula, and Jessilina (a disguised Jessie) all face challenges in Round Two. Jessilina and Ursula are the first to face each other. Ursula and her Plusle and Minun make quick work of Jessilina and her Seviper and Yanmega. Soon, the other Coordinators and their Pokémon get eliminated, so it all boils down to the final round! Dawn, with her Cyndaquil and Mamoswine, face off against Ursula and her Plusle and Minun.
Suddenly, Ursula hits Cyndaquil and Mamoswine with the Encore attack, which allows Pokémon to use only their previous attack! Dawn's Pokémon are getting whipped, but Dawn thinks of a way out. She has her Pokémon attack each other, which sets them free from Encore. With mere seconds left on the clock, Dawn's Pokémon battle furiously...and win!
So, with Dawn's fifth Ribbon in hand, her attention focuses on the upcoming Grand Festival. A clearly bitter Ursula assures her she won't win there. But, in the meantime, it's Ash's upcoming battle at the Sunyshore Gym that's next on our heroes' schedule, as Ash shoots for his eighth Gym Badge!
Dawn and Ursula have made it past the Performance Stage and must now face each other in battle. But Ursula has a secret plan for Plusle and Minun. Will Dawn be able to defeat Ursula and win her fifth and final Contest Ribbon?
The Battle Stage of the Daybreak Contest starts with Jessilina using Seviper and Yanmega against Ursula's Plusle and Minun. Jessilina commands Seviper to use Haze and Yanmega to use SonicBoom. It creates a beautiful spinning move, taking a few points from Ursula's score. Plusle and Minun use a combined Spark to break it into a dazzling shower of sparkles, deducting more points from Jessilina's score. Yanmega lifts Seviper into the air. Plusle and Minun use Helping Hand to power up. Yanmega uses Silver Wind and Seviper charges with a Poison Tail. Silver Wind hits Seviper's tail, sending a twirl of poison beams at the Cheering Pokémon and deducting their points. To counter, they use a combined Spark attack powered by Helping Hand, creating an explosion followed by a shower of blue and green sparkles, leaving them vulnerable. Seviper is released while Plusle and Minun twirl into a tumbleweed-like formation using Spark, then at the last second they split, Plusle lunging towards Seviper while Minun launches in the air towards Yanmega. Two great balls of light appear with a popping sound. Both of Jessilina's Pokémon fall, unable to battle, and Ursula wins the match.
The episode shows many Pokémon battling, and shows part of a battle between Dawn with Mamoswine and Cyndaquil against an unnamed Coordinator with a Mightyena and a Houndoom. Cyndaquil uses Flame Wheel and Mamoswine uses Ice Shard, pulling off the first stage of flame ice. However, the ice melts halfway through, shocking Dawn and Mamoswine. Cyndaquil collides with the Dark and Bite Pokémon, creating a fire explosion. Dawn wins and moves on in the competition, but she is still disappointed that her attempt at Flame Ice was unsuccessful. She is then shown practicing the move, but--once again--the ice melts too early. Ash tries to comfort her by telling her that it looked great, but Brock suggests that she try a more reliable move. Ursula is shown hiding behind a door, grinning smugly, then walking away. Later, both Dawn and Ursula are shown winning their matches, putting them in the finals together. In the hair dressing room, they argue, Ursula pulling the Dee Dee card. Piplup looks from side to side as they argue. Ursula leaves as Dawn says to herself, "Calm down. No need to worry."
Dawn sends out Mamoswine and Cyndaquil, the Ele-Seals on their Ball Capsules creating a torrent of lightning bolts, then Cyndaquil falls playfully on Mamoswine's tusks, beautifully blasting fire. Ursula sends out Plusle and Minun, surrounded by petals created by Flora Seals. At first, no one could see her Pokémon, but then the petals scattered, revealing Plusle and Minun. When they landed, they touched their tails together, creating sparks everywhere. Johanna and her Glameow are then seen watching TV. Johanna says, "Of all the Pokémon Dawn could face, it had to be those two in the finals," referring to the Diamond-Dandruff incident that earned Dawn her nickname "Dee Dee". Dawn commands Mamoswine to use Ice Shard, which it then eats, like Ash's Grotle did with its Energy Ball. Cyndaquil uses Swift to surround Mamoswine, then lands on the ice spike, blasting fire. They charge, and Mamoswine uses Take Down. Plusle and Minun jump up to dodge, and subsequently use Encore, losing Dawn points. Mamoswine and Cyndaquil then glow a dulled color.
Dawn commands Mamoswine to use Hidden Power and Cyndaquil to use Flame Wheel, but instead they use Take Down and Swift because of Encore, as Ursula explains. Plusle and Minun use Helping Hand and then Charge Beam, hitting them Dawn's Pokémon and taking away more points from her. Jessie became "officially impressed." Then the Cheering Pokémon use Spark, deducting more points. They try to dodge, but go back to their regular attacks. Both sparks make contact. They then repeat it, making Dawn lose more points. Dawn, Mamoswine, and Cyndaquil's hair light up. Dawn becomes very scared of everyone seeing her like that, when Mamoswine and Cyndaquil look up at her, their hair dying down. She then realizes that they can still move.
She stands up and straightens her hair. Dawn commands, to everyone's shock, for Cyndaquil and Mamoswine to attack each other. She says to trust her, but she loses more points. Encore wears off, but by then there are only 30 seconds left. Plusle and Minun use Charge Beam, and they dodge by jumping in the air. Then, Dawn pulls off Flame Ice perfectly, deducting points from Ursula. Cyndaquil shoots fire and launches itself forward, managing to separate Plusle and Minun. They get back together and use Spark, but Cyndaquil uses SmokeScreen to break their combination. Mamoswine uses Hidden Power on knocking it backward, while Cyndaquil uses Swift on Minun. The Cheering Pokémon start to charge up for a double Spark, but time runs out. Dawn then wins the Daybreak Contest. Dawn receives the Daybreak Ribbon, qualifying her for the Grand Festival.