Dawn (anime)
| Dawn ヒカリ Hikari | |
 Art from Best Wishes series | |
| Age | 10 (as of debut) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Eye color | Dark Blue |
| Hair color | Dark Blue |
| Hometown | Twinleaf Town |
| Region | Sinnoh |
| Relatives | Johanna (mother) |
| Trainer class | Coordinator |
| Game counterpart | Dawn |
| Anime debut | Following A Maiden's Voyage! |
| English voice actor | Emily Jenness |
| Japanese voice actor | Megumi Toyoguchi |
Dawn (Japanese: ヒカリ Hikari) is a ten-year-old Pokémon Coordinator and a former traveling companion of Ash and Brock. Her goal is to become a great Top Coordinator like her mother, Johanna. Her first Pokémon was a Piplup that she received from Professor Rowan in the first Diamond & Pearl series episode.
History
In the Diamond & Pearl series
Dawn began her Pokémon journey with an overconfident Piplup. She wasn't able to gain his trust at first, but after rescuing him from a group of Ariados, the two became friends. Unlike May, she knew from the beginning that she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps and be a Coordinator. After meeting Ash and Brock, she decided to journey with them, as their experience would likely be helpful to her. Like Ash, she is lucky enough to have seen a legendary Pokémon at the start of her journey, the projected soul of Mesprit in Following A Maiden's Voyage!.
When Dawn began her journey she took a bicycle, but like Misty's and May's bikes, Ash's Pikachu destroyed it with his Thunderbolt. However, she did not mention this to Ash until more than thirty episodes after it happened. Dawn also had planned to take a large suitcase full of clothing with her, but her mother made her leave it at home due to its impracticality. Instead, Dawn took a backpack her mother had prepared for her. Johanna also gave Dawn the first Ribbon she earned as a Coordinator as a good luck charm, an item that would recur throughout the series as a symbol of Dawn's determination.
Upon arriving in Jubilife City, she registered for a Contest Pass for the Sinnoh region. She also obtained a Ball Capsule and some Seals and introduced her Contest cry, which is "Spotlight!" (English) or "Charm up!" (Japanese). Dawn lost her first Contest in Arrival of a Rival! to Zoey, who became one of her closest friends and greatest rivals after the Contest. After her loss, an upset Dawn called her mother, but Johanna told Dawn not to rely on her and instead rely on friends and Pokémon. Eventually, in Dawn's second official Contest, she was able to narrowly beat her childhood friend Kenny to win her first Ribbon.
Dawn regularly trained her Pokémon for Contests and took the opportunity to practice her skills with Zoey whenever the two met, such as in A Stand-Up Sit-Down!. Zoey was always helpful to Dawn during their meetings and helped inspire her to come up with new combinations. However, even with Zoey's help Dawn was not able to perfect Buizel's Ice Aqua Jet despite coming up with the idea. Ash later accomplished Ice Aqua Jet in the Wallace Cup, after Buizel had been traded to him.
Despite her confidence and Contest training, in Dawn's Early Night! when she competed in the Hearthome City Contest she lost in the Appeals Round, making her the first main character to be eliminated from a Contest after the first round. In Team Shocker!, she did not pass the Appeals Round for the second time in a row. This marked a notable change in Dawn's character. After the second blow to her self-esteem, she didn't know what to do and was still very upset throughout Tanks for the Memories!. After this, she became more focused and regained her confidence after battling Maylene in Crossing the Battle Line!. She also began to practice in earnest for all her Contest's performances and battles. Following Zoey's advice to show off the Pokémon and not its moves, Dawn was able to pass through the first round in the Wallace Cup and eventually break her losing streak by narrowly defeating May in the final round of the competition in Strategy With a Smile!. Since this turning point, Dawn has maintained her focus and humility.
After learning of the upcoming Contest in Celestic Town, Dawn became very dedicated in her training to the point of overworking her Pokémon in A Lean Mean Team Rocket Machine!. Due to her intense efforts, she managed to win the Contest in Battling The Generation Gap!. One of Dawn's combinations in that Contest gave Ash the inspiration for one of his notable tactics which he uses later on, the Counter Shield. In A Breed Stampede!, her Mamoswine began to disobey her after evolving. Despite this, she was still eager to train it well and finally gained its trust after healing it in Trials and Adulations!. However, Mamoswine still rebelled and disobeyed Dawn after it was hit by an attack and lost its temper in the semifinals of the Lilypad Contest in Dressed for Jess Success!. Even though this caused Dawn to lose the Contest, she remained calm and optimistic that her and Mamoswine would be victorious the next time.
Her encounter with Mesprit, like and Ash and Brock's encounters with Azelf and Uxie respectively, proved to be fate as Team Galactic intended to capture the lake guardians to awaken Dialga and Palkia in the Spear Pillar. The lake guardians communicated telepathically with Ash, Dawn and Brock and teleported them to the Team Galactic Headquarters. With the help of Cynthia, the three Trainers foiled Team Galactic's plans and freed the lake guardians in The Battle Finale of Legend!
In Double-Time Battle Training!, Dawn, Ash, and Brock watched Zoey compete in the Brussel Town Pokémon Contest. Zoey was victorious, and to celebrate Candice treated the group to an array of desserts. During their meal, Candice introduced the Tamato Berry Ice Cream Sandwich, describing it as "hot and spicy on the inside and cold on the outside", and saying that often times things that don't seem to go well together are actually the most compatible. The dessert and Candice's words inspired Dawn to create a new combination move using Ice- and Fire-type moves. After many failed attempts, she perfected her technique called Flame Ice, which involved Cyndaquil using Flame Wheel while being encased in Mamoswine's Ice Shard attack. She used this move later in the Daybreak Town Contest.
While she is the only female main character not to have a sibling, she has two childhood friends that appeared in the anime, Kenny and Leona, both of whom call her Dee Dee (Japanese: ピカリ Pikari). Dawn has prevented them from telling Ash and Brock about the reason why she has this nickname, but in Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!, it was revealed that the reason for the name was due to her hair glittering (ピカピカ pikapika) after being shocked by the class pets in her kindergarten, Plusle and Minun, making it appear that she had Diamond Dandruff. Due to the trauma from being teased by her entire class with the nickname, she has a certain fear of Plusle and Minun.
In the final round of the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest, Ursula battled Dawn using her Plusle and Minun and deliberately had her Pokémon shock Dawn's hair to recreate "Diamond Dandruff". Even though Dawn temporarily succumbed to her trauma, she was able to overcome her inhibition with Mamoswine's and Cyndaquil's encouragement. Ultimately, she defeated Ursula, winning her final fifth Ribbon as well as the opportunity to participate in the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
She later trained in Teaching the Student Teacher! where she came up with a new tactic for the Grand Festival, the Ice Chandelier, which she managed to perfect by trial and error. Though she originally wanted to see Pachirisu use its Discharge attack while surrounded by Mamoswine's Ice Shard, she eventually decided to cover Pachirisu in a larger bubble of ice from Buneary's Ice Beam. This gave Pachirisu enough room to run, making Ice Chandelier look its best. Besides coming up with combination moves, she also acquired a new Pokémon, Togekiss. Dawn trained with Togekiss in With the Easiest of Grace! to find a way to battle with it while not ignoring its need to move gracefully, and she was eventually able to adjust her own battling style to accommodate her new Pokémon.
Dawn entered the Sinnoh Grand Festival in Last Call — First Round!, using her Buneary and Cyndaquil in the Appeals Round. She progressed through the round and battled Ursula first in the next episode. With Mamoswine and Pachirisu she was able to successfully use her combination Ice Chandelier to defeat Ursula's Gabite and Flareon. In the following episode, she defeated Jessilina and progressed to the finals. Dawn would face Zoey in the final round, which fulfilled the promise the two had made with each other after their fist Contest to some day meet in the last round of the Grand Festival.
It was a very evenly matched and close fight between her Piplup and Togekiss and Zoey's Glameow and Gallade, but in the end Dawn lost. After the finals, she met with her mother and returned the Ribbon Johanna had given her as a good luck charm at the very start of her journey. Dawn said that she no longer needed to walk in her mother's shadow, and only needed her Pokémon's care and support to become a Top Coordinator, proving to her mother and to herself how much she had grown as a Trainer.
After the competition, Zoey told Dawn that Candice was throwing a victory party for her in Snowpoint City and that Dawn was also welcome; however, Dawn declined the invitation, stating that she still wanted to support Ash in his upcoming battle at Sunyshore Gym and in the Lily of the Valley Conference. She then thanked all the Pokémon that had traveled with her through Sinnoh for their hard work and pledged to not give up her dream of being a Top Coordinator.
After Ash competed in the Sinnoh League, she contemplated whether or not to go with Ash and Brock to Kanto. However, she received invitation by Paris for her Buneary to work with her for a short while as a Pokémon fashion model and decided to stay in Sinnoh. Dawn and Ash later shared a final high-five, their trademark exchange throughout the Diamond & Pearl series, before Ash and Brock left for Kanto.
After Buneary's modeling work with Paris was completed, Dawn decided to spend some time at home before considering her next move on her journey to become Top Coordinator. In SS024, Dawn decided to go to the Hoenn region, since Hoenn is the region Contests originated from. However, though she was certain she would take Piplup, she did not know if she should take all of her other Pokémon with her to Hoenn or not. She sought advice from Professor Rowan, who instead sent her to help a new Trainer who was having trouble deciding what her first Pokémon would be. Dawn and Shinko ran into an Ariados's web, reminiscent of the first challenge Dawn faced with Piplup. Dawn's Cyndaquil evolved into Quilava in order to protect the two Trainers, and it was then that Dawn realized all of her Pokémon still had potential to grow with her. She decided to take all her Pokémon to Hoenn with her and soon left on her new adventure with her dream of becoming a Top Coordinator burning as bright as ever.
In the Best Wishes series
In All for the Love of Meloetta!, it was revealed that Dawn had traveled to the Unova region and was staying in Cynthia's villa in Undella Town while the Champion was visiting Virbank City. She would return with Ash, with whom Dawn got to reunite, and Ash's new friends, Iris and Cilan, whom Dawn met for the first time. She also battled Cilan, using her Piplup against his Pansage, but because the battle was interrupted, no winner was identified. She became a good friend of Iris when they traveled to the Onix Island in Expedition to Onix Island! and was surprised by the unfamiliar Pokémon native to the Unova region, such as Foongus.
Before coming to Undella Town, Dawn had visited Nimbasa City where she watched a Pokémon Musical and one of Elesa's fashion shows. She also revealed that she would enter the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup. She would later make it to the second round before her Mamoswine was defeated by Iris's Dragonite, despite the fact that Dragonite still wasn't listening to Iris's orders.
Later, in Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!, she met Cameron, along with Ash, Iris and Cilan. When they arrived at Cynthia's villa in Undella Town, she announced her intention to head to Johto to compete in the Wallace Cup being held there. After battling Ash, using her Quilava against Ash's Pikachu, and saying their farewells, she and Piplup boarded the flight to Blackthorn City.
Dawn later appeared during a flashback in The Dream Continues!.
Character
Dawn is notable for her confidence, since she almost always tries to look towards the future rather than dwell on her mistakes. In stark contrast to May's inexperience and self-doubt at the start of the Advanced Generation series, Dawn was overly confident and assured in her own strength at the beginning of her journey. Because of this, she became emotional after she was eliminated from Pokémon Contests, and often cried after losing. After failing to pass the Appeals Round of two contests in a row, Dawn became depressed. In Tanks for the Memories!, Dawn remembered her contest failures and had to excuse herself so she could cry. These behaviors were completely opposite those she had exhibited at the beginning of her journey, something Ash and Brock took notice of. Their encouragement was not enough to renew her psyche though, and it was not until she defeated May to win the Wallace Cup that she truly regained her confidence and focus. After this point, Dawn took on a more positive and determined personality. In addition, she became more mature. Instead of reverting back to her old headstrong and confident attitude, she became more aware of her faults and how she could work to overcome them. In the Japanese version, Dawn' catchphrase is, "Daijōbu!" Although not consistently translated in the English dub at first, she began to regularly use "No need to worry!".
A key example of Dawn's growth and maturity occured in Trials and Adulations!. In this episode, Dawn was separated from Ash and Brock and her Mamoswine's leg was badly injured. Instead of panicking or trying to force Mamoswine to continue walking, Dawn thought back to lessons Brock had given her about Pokémon care. She recalled that the sap of a plant could help soothe pain and called upon her Pokémon to search for the it. Dawn applied the sap, wrapped the wound, formed a bed of leaves for Mamoswine, and gathered food and Berries for it to eat. Dawn was ultimately rewarded, and this episode gained her Mamoswine's respect and loyalty. Dawn's actions go deeper than that though, they are evidence of her growth as a Trainer and person.
Over the course of her journey in Sinnoh, Dawn was able to come up with various combinations to show up her Pokémon's looks and strength. This began with something as simple as making her Piplup's beak grow longer when using Peck, a technique she used even until the end of the Grand Festival. She later followed with simple spinning, which her Piplup and Buneary first practiced for a while in Oreburgh City. The spinning move was adapted by Ash in his first Gym battle in Sinnoh.
Later on, Dawn began experimenting with more complex combinations, such as Flame Ice and Ice Chandelier. After a lot of practice, Dawn's Pokémon were able to master these combinations in battle. Coincidentally, both of these moves were used to defeat Ursula.
Originally, Dawn had great concern about her appearance and would not show herself to Ash or Brock until she felt that her appearance was acceptable. In fact, Dawn often slept in a tent while Ash and Brock slept outside. However after Tears for Fears!, Dawn began to sleep outside as well and was less concerned with her appearance in front of Ash and Brock. This may have been an indicator that she had become more focused as a Trainer and Coordinator, paying more attention to her Pokémon and less attention to her looks. Even so, whenever Dawn knew she was going to be on camera, she would pause to brush her hair, such as in Last Call - First Round! when Rhonda wanted to interview her for her broadcast of the Grand Festival.
Dawn also has interest in fashion, and in The Bells Are Singing!, Dawn revealed that she was the one to design Buneary's vest, but also admitted that her mother was the one to sew it. In Arriving in Style!, she demonstrated her talent for designing again, sketching many different dresses for the Hearthome Collection, though she rejected almost all of them.
Pokémon
The majority of the Pokémon that Dawn has captured are cute and small like her starter, Piplup.
Originally, because of her lack of experience, she had difficulties dealing with her Pokémon properly, as seen when she bickered with Piplup or when Pachirisu occasionally hit unwanted targets with its Discharge. Even later on in the Diamond & Pearl series, after most of her Pokémon had become obedient, her Mamoswine had a tendency to become angered and disobey Dawn in the process. It was not until the episode Trials and Adulations! that Dawn was fully able to handle all of her Pokémon without problems. Despite the many issues she faced, Dawn always deeply cared for her Pokémon, especially her Piplup.
As a Pokémon Coordinator, Dawn trained her Pokémon in the art of appeals as well as battles. Because of this she is able to utilize her Pokémon's capabilities creatively. For example, she trained Buneary to use Ice Beam various ways, which proved helpful in the many Contests Dawn participated in. She was also able to pull off successful combinations with her Togekiss in the finals of the Grand Festival, despite the lack of experience and time she had spent training it compared to her other Pokémon.
This listing is of Dawn's Pokémon as of her most recent appearance.
On hand
This section is for the Pokémon that Dawn has in her current party.
 Piplup ♂ |
 Buneary ♀ |
 Pachirisu |
 Swinub → Piloswine → Mamoswine |
 Egg → Cyndaquil → Quilava |
 Togekiss ♀ |
In training
This section is for Pokémon that Dawn still owns but were given to another Trainer to take care of.
 Aipom → Ambipom ♀ |
Traded away
This section is for Pokémon that Dawn traded away.
 Buizel ♂ |
Temporary
This section is for Pokémon that Dawn temporarily used. Most of them are rental and belong to another Trainer.
| Debut | Two Degrees of Separation |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Ikue Ohtani |
| English | Ikue Ohtani |
- Main article: Ash's Pikachu
When Dawn rescued Pikachu from Team Rocket, after trying to capture him thinking he was a wild Pokémon, she looked after Pikachu until returning to Ash in the next episode.
| Debut | A Maze-ing Race! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Katsuyuki Konishi |
| English | Bill Rogers |
- Main article: Brock's Croagunk
After the group got separated by Graveler and Golem using Rollout, Croagunk ended up going with Dawn while they were stuck in a maze looking for Ash and Brock. When the group found each other on two sides of a maze wall, Croagunk, along with the other Pokémon, were commanded to break a hole on one side of the wall.
| Debut | Camping It Up! |
|---|
Dawn trained this Grimer during the first day of the Pokémon Summer Academy. It was used in a battle against a Venonat trained by Conway. During the battle, it used a Counter Shield that Dawn had taught it.
Grimer's known moves are Poison Gas, Mud-Slap*, Sludge and Gunk Shot*.
Contests
Ribbons obtained
Sinnoh Ribbons
- Floaroma Ribbon (Settling a Not-So-Old Score!)
- Aqua Ribbon (Strategy with a Smile!)
- Celestic Ribbon (Battling The Generation Gap!)
- Chocovine Ribbon (Another One Gabites the Dust!)
- Daybreak Ribbon (Playing the Performance Encore!)
Outfits
Grand Festival ranking
- Sinnoh Grand Festival - runner-up (A Grand Fight for Winning!)
Other achievements
- Unofficial Contest - runner-up (Borrowing on Bad Faith!)
- Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition - runner-up (with Conway) (Smells Like Team Spirit!)
- Hearthome Collection - winner (Arriving in Style!)
- Pokémon Ping Pong Tournament - top 4 (To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!)
- Twinleaf Festival Battle Tournament - N/A (Challenging a Towering Figure!)
- Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup - top 8 (Battling Authority Once Again!)
Voice actors
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In the manga
In the Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl manga
Dawn and her Piplup appear as main characters alongside Ash and Pikachu in the manga series Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl, an adaptation of the anime set in the timeline of the Diamond & Pearl series.
Pokémon
 Piplup ♂ |
 Buneary ♀ |
 Pachirisu |
 Aipom → Ambipom ♀ |
 Mamoswine |
Traded away
 Buizel ♂ |
In movie manga adaptations
Dawn appears in the manga adaptations of The Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and the Sky Warrior, Arceus and the Jewel of Life, and Zoroark: Master of Illusions. Her team is the same in these manga adaptations.
In the TCG
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Dawn or her Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
| Dawn's Pokémon Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
Piplup 
|
|
Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 007/022 | ||||
| Buneary
|
|
Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 019/022 | ||||
Trivia
- On the Pokémon Learning League website, her clothing has been altered so that her white undershirt has sleeves and she is wearing black stockings or tights.
- Dawn's Japanese name is Hikari, and her rival's is Nozomi. The Hikari and the Nozomi are two Shinkansen "bullet train" lines. The Nozomi is faster than the Hikari, possibly symbolizing that Zoey is farther along in her coordinating skills than Dawn. It should also be noted that they go in opposite directions.
- Dawn currently has the most normal type Pokémon (Buneary and Togekiss) out of all Ash's traveling companions. May, Brock and Clemont have only one, Max and Bonnie are too young to have Pokémon, and Cilan, Iris, and Serena don't have any normal types.
- All of Dawn's Normal-type Pokémon are female.
- When Dawn temporarily returned to the show in the Best Wishes series, she returned for nine episodes. This was longer than both Misty and May, who only returned to the show for five episodes each; Misty's return was on two different occasions for a total of five.
- Dawn is also the only one between them not to use a new outfit during her return.
- Dawn is Ash's only traveling companion to have met all three of his main rivals, having met Gary and Paul during her original run and having met Trip during her return.
- Dawn is the only Pokémon Coordinator in the anime to compete for the same Contest Ribbon twice.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ヒカリ Hikari |
From 光/ひかり hikari, light or shine. |
| English | Dawn | May be a reference to Hikari; dawn is the day's first light. |
| French | Aurore | From aurore, dawn. |
| German | Lucia | From Latin lux, light. |
| Italian | Lucinda | From luce, light. |
| Spanish | Maya | Maya can be a reference to the Maya civilization, who worshiped sun. |
| Korean | 나빛나 Na Bit-Na | When read as a sentence, it means I shine. |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 小光 Xiǎo Guāng | From 光 hikari, light. Can be taken as "young light". |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 小光* Síu Gwōng 光子* Gwōngjí |
From 光 hikari. |
| Thai | ฮิคาริ Hikari |
Same as her Japanese name. |
Related articles
On Bulbagarden forums
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
