Dawn Evans was born to a rapidash father and quilava mother in Slateport City in the Hoenn region. Unfortunately there were severe complications during her birth and though the doctors were able to save Dawn, her mother died giving birth to her. Dawn's older sister, a cyndaquil, blamed Dawn for their mother's death and has always hated her younger sister. A problem child from the start, Dawn's sister's problems and acting out took up most of their father's time and energy, leaving Dawn to fend for and raise herself for the most part.

Fortunately Dawn was well-adjusted and intelligent enough to do so, succeeding in school with an understanding for what her father had to deal with. Her success and effort in school paid off as she was awarded a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Three Regis Combat Academy in Hoenn. Her skill, tactical awareness, and good looks drew the attention of twin brothers Kalim and Raza Ibrahil who, despite being ponytas themselves, invited her to join their battle team along with fellow ponyta Kristoff Feurhaffe.

The team did very well in the academy through virtue of hard work, determination, and superior teamwork. However the Three Regis Academy had fallen on hard times in the years since they arrived and had lost a lot of the luster and prestige it once had. Eventually it reached the point where the team as a whole decided to transfer, eventually choosing the Poke-Combat Academy in Kanto.

Although new faces at the school, Dawn and Team One Trick (a name they adopted after being ridiculed with it, to spite the ones trying to insult them) bring a lot of experience and different ways of thinking and fighting to the school's arena. Dawn is a very intelligent and well-rounded fighter who comes up with most of the team's tactics and training routines, some of them fairly unorthodox. She's under a lot of pressure to succeed, particularly being in a new school, and so comes across as very stand-offish but can be quite friendly if someone can get her to sit still and relax long enough.