When we arrive at a village and we find a Marill stuck between two buildings. Pikachu and Piplup struggle to pull it out, but Marill eventually uses Water Gun to force itself out.
"There you are!" We notice a girl rushing to Marill, and she demands, "Now how did you manage to get here?"
"Is this Marill belongs to you?" Dawn asks.
"It sure does, but it just disappeared." Then she recalls her Pokemon. "Lyra's the name. Hi."
We also introduce ourselves and Lyra asks, "Wait, you are the Ash Ketchum who defeated Lance? I've got something to show you! The Johto Festival is now in the village."
"Johto Festival? Is that a thing?" Gladion asks. And she decides to show us around. "Wow... it reminds me of the Twinleaf Festival a few days ago."
"Yeah, my family and I have been helping out in a stand." Just as she is about to show them, they see a girl rushing towards them. "Lyra, where have you run off to? We are worried about you."
"Sorry, my Marill was missing until these guys found it." Lyra says.
But the girl gasps after seeing us, and we recognize her as our former travel companion Kris. "Ash! Lillie! Long time no see!"
"Kris! It's bee a while!" Lillie says as they hug each other.
"Ethan is going to be happy to see you two again." Kris says. "
"So you all know Kris?" Lyra asks.
"Of course, we travel together, challenging gyms together in the Johto Region along with Ethan." Lillie says.
"Lyra here is my cousin, and we are all here for the Johto Festival." Kris says.
When we all get to the festival stand, we also meet up with Ethan, who is happy to see us. "Ash! Lillie! What a surprise."
"You too, Ethan." I say, and Pikachu and Togetic are also happy to see them. "And it's nice to see you two as well, Pikachu, and Togetic!"
Then we also meet a boy Khoury, and he seems to have a problem with Totodile, so I ask if he has Chesto Berries so that I can help him out. "You're as helpful as always, Ash." Kris says.
"Yeah, we are still learning a lot." I say.
We learn that Khoury's father is the one who is responsible for the whole festival, and Ethan says, "That reminds me, Lyra, since you're challenging the Johto Gyms, you can probably learn a lot from Ash after all."
"That also reminds me, are you also challenging the Sinnoh League and Grand Festival as well?" Kris asks.
"Of course. I have seven badges and five ribbons, I can compete at the Grand Festival." I say, "And Lillie is also challenging the Sinnoh Gyms with me."
"That's great, Lillie." Ethan says.
"Thanks." Lillie says.
"I only have two of them." Lyra says. "I beat Falkner and Bugsy."
"Well, it is going to get harder." I say.
Then we learn that there is a show of the Johto Starter Pokemon, and Lyra is on stage having an exhibition match with Dawn. Dawn wins and gets an egg as a prize, but Team Rocket comes and steals the egg.
"Are you telling me those idiots are still following you?" Kris asks
"Who are you calling idiots?" Meowth yells.
"You three of course. You never learned and that is what idiots do." Ethan says with a smirk. "How many times have they chased after you?"
"906 times." I say. "94 left and they'll be bye-bye."
We chase after the group and send them flying, Dawn also gets her egg back.
"So wherever you go, they will always chase you?" Kris asks.
"Yeah. But I must say, Jessie is doing well in contests, too." I say. "Considering she has two ribbons already."
Ethan says, "They should have done that instead of working for Team Rocket." Ethan sighs.
Then Lyra and Khoury ask Khoury's father if the four of them want to spend some time with us since they want to learn more about being Pokemon Trainers. We agree to let them come along for a short while, and it is also then Dawn's Egg starts to glow.
"It's hatching already?" Dawn gasps as we see the egg hatch into a Cyndaquil. "A Cyndaquil!"
"You're lucky to have that one." Ethan says. "Reminds me of ours."
While we're having a lunch break, Piplup wants to greet Cyndaquil, but because of Cyndaquil's rejection, they get into a fight. We try to learn more about Cyndaquil's personality and strength, and we find that it can use Flame Wheel, Swift, and SmokeScreen. Although Piplup doesn't like the attention Cyndaquil is giving they fight once more.
It is then Lyra's Marill runs off again, we arrive at the familiar Valley Windoworks where we fought Team Galactic before. We contact the workers who recognized us and they let us go to find the Pokemon, but then the power shuts and all 10 of us are trapped inside the storage room without any help. We find Marill there, but we can't find Piplup or Cyndaquil. Pikachu goes for the vents and tries to search for help.
While we're waiting, we start to chat about our journeys and also some other things. Lyra is feeling jealous of how Kris and Ethan have wonderful journeys with us, and while we're talking, we aren't forgetting to break open the door. After a while, the power is back and we can finally get out. We meet up with our Pokemon again, however, Piplup and Cyndaquil begin fighting over Dawn's attention again, so she calls Cyndaquil back to its Poké Ball.
When we get outside, Team Rocket is returning with the giant Magcargo mecha powered up by the power cord. They try to fire the cannons, however, the energy pulse also drains the robot's battery to almost empty. Vulnerable, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, sending Team Rocket blasting off and saving the day.
Then we arrive at Mt. Shady, we learn that there is a rogue Gible that has been wreaking havoc around the place. Khoury wants to capture it, but he is torn because he also thinks it's dangerous to catch a Gible.
A bit later along our way, a big rock comes flying towards us which was intentionally thrown by the wild Gible. It goes for Strength to throw another big rock at us, we quickly jump out of the way and he uses Rock Smash. I decide to help him by using Gabite while Khoury uses Totodile. The Gible uses Sandstorm at them then quickly escapes with Dig.
We chase after them as we decide to split ways, Lyra, Kris, Ethan, and Lillie are with me while the others are with Khoury, We try to fight with the Gible, but it is moving very fast. While Khoury decides to wait for Gible on a large rock above the grass rather than chase it, by using a fishing rod, so we all do the same thing.
Dawn's rod soon attracts the wild Gible and starts pulling her rod, realizing that it is very strong. She struggles with it as Khoury jumps in to keep the rod steady. When Dawn starts to reel the line in, Gible grabs the line with one hand and yanks it, throwing Dawn and Khoury right off their feet and the rock.
We chase after him and arrive in a nearby cave, but we are trapped in Trapinch's Arena Trap. After we get out of it, we try to find the Gible once more, and we finally catch up to them and Khoury finally catches it.
We finally arrive at Lilypad Town, and we're helping Dawn with some training before the contest begins. We train with both Mamoswine and of course, mine also greets Ethan and Kris since it's been a while. Cyndaquil wants to enter the Contest, but Dawn already chooses Mamoswine for the Contest and now Cyndaquil is depressed.
Now that we are backstage, we of course meet Jessilina, Jessie's disguise for the Contests, but this time I realize that it is not Jessie but James.
"So you say that this is Jessie in the disguise for the Contests?" Kris asks.
"Yeah, but I think this time it is James..." I say. "I think Jessie is sick but she doesn't want to miss her chance to get the third ribbon."
"How do you know about that?" Ethan asks.
"Checking their memories." I say.
The first round commences, and in a quick set of moves, Dawn's Piplup uses Whirlpool and then Bide to leave a dazzling impression on the minds of the Contest Judges. "Jessilina" uses Meowth and Fury Swipes to make delicious ramen for the judges, and they are quite impressed with the showmanship and flavor of the meal.
"It's such an unusual performance..." Khoury says.
"But that's what the Contests are cool about." Kris adds.
In the finial round, it's James against Dawn. He goes for Carnivine and Dawn goes for Mamoswine.
Dawn starts off the match with an Ice Shard, but to her surprise, James is prepared and has Carnivine use Vine Whip to steal the Ice Shard before Mamoswine can eat it. This startles Mamoswine causing it to start to get worked up while Carnivine playfully juggles the Ice Shard.
Carnivine returns the Ice Shard back towards Mamoswine and, as Mamoswine is still in shock, it does not react in time to dodge, and the Ice Shard hits it square on the head costing Dawn some points. Mamoswine begins to become enraged, and Dawn tells her Pokémon to calm down but instead, Mamoswine charges and uses Take Down in an attempt to hit Carnivine. Carnivine proves itself too agile for Mamoswine, and dodges by simply leaping over the Twin Tusk Pokémon. Mamoswine runs backwards and forwards trying to hit Carnivine only to miss every time and the constant failed attacks causes Dawn's points to quickly drain.
"Mamoswine! You have to calm down!" Dawn yells. But Mamoswine keeps using Take Down. Mamoswine then tries to use Hidden Power against Carnivine however James has it use Bullet Seed which counters Hidden Power. Mamoswine then fires Ancient Power, but Carnivine spins elegantly out of the way causing Dawn to lose more of the few points she has left. Mamoswine once charges Carnivine, who James then orders to use Vine Whip and snags Mamoswine's tusks to its surprise. Carnivine then yanks back hard, throwing Mamoswine forward off its feet, which combined with its charging forward momentum, sends it violently sliding on its chin across the stage towards the judges.
It quickly becomes clear that Mamoswine won't be able to stop in time, and Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and Nurse Joy barely scramble out of the way just before Mamoswine's body is halted by crashing into and destroying the judges' desk.
"Mamoswine! Are you alright?" Dawn runs forward worried that Mamoswine has been seriously hurt, but Mamoswine tries to get up, clearly ready for more.
With that, time runs out, and James easily has the most points remaining.
"What a shame... She can win if Mamoswine listens to her." Lyra says.
"All things can happen." Lillie says.
Mamoswine has calmed down but is clearly saddened as it already knows that its behavior has cost Dawn her Contest. "Mamoswine, cheer up. We'll win it next time."
We all rush to the backstage, and I say, "We're sorry about your match."
"No need to worry, there are a lot of things that we don't know and we have to work on it." Dawn says.
And then we head off to Lilypad Ruins, Lyra and Khoury want to battle Lillie and I, so we have a tag battle.
"Since you guys are from Johto, how about we use the ones we meet in Johto? Meganium! I choose you!"
"Espeon, you too!" Lillie sends out the Pokemon as well.
As the two Pokemon arrive, Kris says, "Meganium, Espeon! It sure has been a while."
The two Pokemon greet them, and Ethan says, "Looks like Meganium is not trying to crush you this time."
"Yeah, she already has a boyfriend." I say.
Lyra and Khoury are a little nervous about battling high skilled Pokemon, but they still send out Chikorita and Totodile. In the middle of the battle, Totodile evolves into Croconaw. But we still defeat them.
Lyra and Khoury are now heading back to Johto to continue their Johto Gym challenge, I suggest they battle Morty or Whitney and they agree to check it out, then they bid farewell in the end.
Here is a new chapter, and the next one is going to be Team Galactic. I hope you like it.
Ash and Lillie's Pokemon:
Charizard x2 (In training), Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Lapras, Meganium, Togetic, Espeon, Murkrow, Steelix (Crystal), Sneasel, Mantine, Porygon2, Sceptile, Gardevoir (Shiny), Milotic, Absol, Torterra, Monferno, Empoleon, Staraptor, Bibarel, Kricketune, Luxray, Roserade, Rampardos, Bastiodon, Wormadam x3 (Plant, Sandy, Trash), Mothim, Vespiquen, Pachirisu (Shiny), Floatzel, Cherrim, Gatsrodon x2 (East, West), Ambipom, Drifblim, Lopunny, Mismagius, Purugly, Skuntank, Bronzong, Spiritomb, Gabite, Riolu, Hippowdon, Skorupi, Toxicroak, Carnivine, Lumineon, Snover, Magnezone, Lickilicky, Rhyperior, Tangrowth, Electivire, Magmortar, Yanmega, Leafeon, Glaceon, Gliscor, Mamoswine, Gallade, Probopass, Dusknoir, Froslass x2, Rotom, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai
Dawn's Pokemon:
Rapidash, Piplup, Pachirisu, Cherrim, Lopunny, Piloswine
Tox's Pokemon:
Roserade, Skuntank, Croagunk
Gladion's Pokemon:
Umbreon, Riolu
Daniel's Pokemon:
Girafarig, Bronzong