Dawn began her journey with her Piplup after bonding with it. Unlike May, she knew from the beginning that she wanted to 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!. She had a bicycle, but like Misty's and May's bikes, Ash's Pikachu destroyed it with its Thunderbolt. However, she did not mention this to Ash until more than 30 episodes after it happened. She also had planned to take a large suitcase full of dresses with her, but her mother made her leave it at home due to its impracticality. She had a Contest Pass for the Sinnoh region, and her Contest cry is "Spotlight!" (English) or "Charm up!" (Japanese). Johanna gave Dawn the first Ribbon she earned as a Coordinator for good luck.