>>23226259Not to mention that Maylene wasn't a longtime friend of Dawn's like Clemont was for Serena (from traveling together). So Dawn didn't have any "friendship incentive" to root for Maylene, yet she choose to root for Maylene anyway.
Meanwhile Serena could have stayed neutral out of respect to Clemont since she's friends with both Clemont and Ash; but she didn't stay neutral and she even blushed when Ash landed a big hit.