>>37112766Dawn's appeal is that she is the anti-May. May didn't like Pokemon at first and only found her goal of being a coordinator through experience. May was expected to be a battling trainer as her father was a gym leader. May also had the advantage of winning her contests mostly through luck or improvised bullshit, rarely struggling to win ribbons, and put in the absolute minimum effort necessary to get to the Grand Festival. (The only times she did lose outside of Grand Festivals were because she got exceptionally arrogant and used a freshly caught Bulbasaur in a contest, and when she had Munchlax who was also never used in contests and rarely in battles.)
Dawn, conversely, always had this goal of being a coordinator, as her mother was one as well. Dawn followed her mother's footsteps and legacy through her own decision. Johanna didn't expect or push for Dawn to be a coordinator. Dawn did that on her own. Meanwhile, May was pressured into being a great trainer by Norman, and she flat out rejected that. Dawn also experienced a much more realistic look at being a coordinator, having lost many major contests throughout her career. Unlike May, who barely put any effort in and won, Dawn put in tremendous effort and lost many times over. May used freshly caught Pokemon with no battle experience that inexplicably learned new moves to win. Dawn used Pokemon that she trained a lot on screen (even Pokemon like Buneary and Pachirisu had dedicated training episodes before their contest debuts), and never got away with winning by learning a new move or some other luck. Dawn's rivals were there to support her and help her understand what she got wrong. May's rivals antagonized the shit out of her and gave her little guidance.
