Johto Festival

Today the gang arrived in a village. They were all hungry and were just about to go get something to eat, but then they noticed something. A Marill was stuck between two houses. Growlithe and Piplup pulled Marill out quickly.

"Hey Marill, are you okay?" Ash asked.

Marill wasn't hurt and it was happy to be free again.

Dawn looked Marill up on her Pokedex.

"Marill, the Aqua Mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Azurill. Using it's tail as a float, it likes eating plants that grow on river bottoms."

She thought it was a very cute Pokemon.

Suddenly a girl wearing a white cap with a red ribbon ran up.

"There you are." She said. "How did you get here?"

"Is Marill your Pokemon?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, but it keeps wandering off." The girl said.

She returned Marill to it's Poke Ball.

"My name's Lyra." She introduced herself.

"My name's Ash. This is my brother Tomo and my friends Dawn and Brock." The gang introduced themselves.

Lyra liked Piplup and scanned him on a pink and white Pokedex.

"Nice Pokedex." Dawn said.

"Thanks. This is one of the newest models of the Pokedex in the Johto Region." Lyra said.

"Wait, are you from Johto?" Ash asked.

"Yes, have you heard of it?" Lyra asked.

"Brock, Tomo and I traveled through the Johto Region a few years ago." Ash answered.

"Wow, then you should come with me." Lyra said. "I have something cool to show you."

The cool something was a small festival being held in the village.

"This is the Johto festival." Lyra said. "The people who are running the festival, including me, have been traveling everywhere to promote the Johto Region."

"Nice." Ash said.

Suddenly a ring tone was heard and Lyra took out a gadget from her pocket.

"Hey a Pokegear." Ash said, remembering the Pokegears back in Johto.

Lyra answered her Pokegear and a boy on the phone spoke up, saying they needed Lyra back.

"I'll be right there." Lyra said.

Just then a big TV screen and a commercial featuring Lyra was on. Lyra showed off a commercial of the Johto Region with shots of Ecruteak City, Goldenrod City, Olivine City and Blackthorn City.

"That does bring back memories." Ash smiled, watching the commercial.

Lyra led the gang to a stall she was working at. In the stall was a man and boy who wore glasses and they were selling things from Johto like Moomoo Milk, Apricorns, Berry Pots, Rage Candy Bars and Apriblenders.

"Ooh Moomoo Milk." Tomo said.

He really liked the stuff. He bought some right away.

"You like Moomoo Milk, young man?" The man asked.

"I do." Tomo answered. "I also like the cheese, ice cream and other things you make with Moomoo Milk."

"Well then, have this as well." The man said.

He produced some ice cream made from the Moomoo Milk.

Tomo had some ice cream right away and so did Ash, Dawn and Brock.

"My name's Khoury and this is my dad." Khoury introduced himself and his dad.

"Khoury's dad is in charge of the festival." Lyra explained.

Dawn noticed a Totodile sitting behind the stall and looked at it on her Pokedex. It belonged to Khoury. Piplup wanted to say hello, but Totodile was distant.

"Sorry, my Totodile is always like that." Khoury apologized. "And it won't eat any of the food I make for it."

Brock tasted some of the food and saw it was a bit too sweet.

"Do you have any Chesto Berries?" He asked Khoury.

"Yes I do." Khoury said.

He presented a basket of Chesto Berries. Brock crushed a few Chesto Berries into powder and sprinkled it onto Totodile's food. Totodile ate the food right away because it tasted better with the Chesto Berries. Khoury was amazed by this.

"I'm studying to become a Pokemon doctor, so I know a lot about Pokemon breeding and I'll give you some Pokemon food recipes I know." Brock said.

"Thank you." Khoury said.

"Did you get Totodile from Prof. Elm, Khoury?" Ash asked.

"Yes I did. Do you know Prof. Elm?" Khoury questioned out loud.

"Yes, Brock, Tomo and I met him when we went to the Johto Region 3 years ago." Ash said.

"Really?" Lyra asked.

Before Ash could say anything else, Totodile spoke up.

"I think Totodile is reminding you of the show that's about to start." Khoury said.

"Oh, I nearly forgot about that." Lyra said.

She was putting on an expedition about Johto region Pokemon. She introduced herself to everyone at the festival and said she was from New Bark Town in Johto. The big TV screen showed images of a Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile and Lyra explained they were the starter Pokemon you get in Johto. Next Lyra tossed a Poke Ball and out came a Chikorita. It was hers. Dawn looked Chikorita up on the Pokedex.

"No doubt Lyra chose Chikorita as her starter Pokemon." Brock said.

Suddenly Lyra pointed to Dawn.

"Can you battle me and Chikorita?" She asked.

The reason was Lyra knew Piplup was a Sinnoh starter Pokemon. Lyra thought it would be perfect to hold a battle between a Johto starter Pokemon and a Sinnoh starter Pokemon for the show. Dawn was surprised, but went onto the stage.

"If you win, you'll receive a fabulous prize." Lyra told Dawn.

She liked the sound of that and she and Piplup agreed to battle right away. Khoury's dad was the referee.

Lyra then started the battle.

"Chikorita, Razor Leaf." Piplup was hit by the leaves, but he wasn't beaten yet.

"Piplup, use Ice Beam." Dawn said.

Piplup fired a Ice Beam attack; he learned it from Empoleon.

"Chikorita, use Light Screen." Lyra said.

Light Screen was a move that cuts an opponent's attack in half, so Chikorita didn't take a lot of damage thanks to Light Screen.

"Alright Piplup, use Aerial Ace." Dawn said.

Piplup charged at Chikorita with a glowing hand and slashed at her. This time Chikorita took damage.

"Piplup's flying type moves have a huge advantage over Chikorita." Khoury said.

"Use Ice Beam again." Dawn told Piplup.

Chikorita used Light Screen to protect herself again.

"Quick, use Peck." Dawn said.

Piplup charged forward with a glowing beak, which broke the Light Screen attack and hit Chikorita very hard. Chikorita then fainted.

"Chikorita is unable to battle." Khoury's dad said. "Therefore the winner is Dawn and her Piplup."

So Dawn won the battle and the audience clapped and cheered for her victory. Dawn was happy and immediately thanked Piplup. Lyra returned Chikorita and walked up to Dawn.

"Wow Dawn, you really caught me off guard in our battle." Lyra said. "I found out Light Screen wasn't enough against your Piplup."

"You and Chikorita were great too." Dawn said.

Lyra presented a gift wrapped box to Dawn; this was the prize.

"Open it and see what you've got." Lyra said.

Dawn took off the cover and revealed that the prize was a Pokemon egg in a container.

"Oh wow." Dawn said, happy to see that she was getting a new Pokemon.

"You will have to wait and see what the egg hatches into." Lyra said.

Tomo looked at the egg; it was a dark green color with red spots. He whispered to Ash.

"I think that's a Cyndaquil egg." He said.

"So do I, but let's not tell Dawn otherwise it would ruin the surprise." Ash whispered back.

After the battle show was over Lyra had a talk with Ash, Dawn and Tomo while Khoury had a talk with Brock. As Brock knew a lot about Pokemon breeding Khoury wanted to learn a lot from him because he wanted to be a Pokemon breeder too. Lyra was telling Ash and Dawn she was traveling around Johto to enter the Johto League. She even showed them her two gym badges; the Hive Badge and the Zephyr Badge.

"Wow, seeing those brings back memories." Ash said. "I've got all eight gym badges and entered the Johto League myself. I didn't win it but it was still fun. Now I'm collecting eight gym badges here in Sinnoh to enter the Sinnoh League. I'm also collecting contest ribbons to enter the Grand Festival."

"Grand Festival?" Lyra asked.

Dawn explained to her about Pokemon contests, contest ribbons and that she and Ash were entering them. Ash showed Lyra his seven badges, four frontier plaques and three ribbons and Dawn showed off her four ribbons. Tomo also showed off his badges to Lyra.

"Wow you guys have done so much, especially you Ash competing in three things." Lyra said. "I've heard about Battle Frontiers, but never heard about anyone battling them."

"Right now, we are on the way to Lilypad Town for the next Pokemon contest." Dawn said.

It was then Lyra asked Khoury's dad if she could travel with the gang to Lilypad Town to see the Pokemon contest; she wanted to see what they were like. Khoury asked if he could go too because he wanted to learn a lot from Brock and see what the Pokemon contest is like as well. Khoury's dad had no problem with that; the Johto festival was going to continue for a few more days. So Lyra and Khoury were free to join the gang.

Suddenly the egg glowed; it was time for the hatching. Dawn took the container off and everyone watched as a baby Cyndaquil hatched from the egg.

"A Cyndaquil." Dawn said with joy.

"Our guess was right." Tomo whispered to Ash.

Dawn picked Cyndaquil up and held it in her arms.

"Hi Cyndaquil." She said. "I'm your trainer, Dawn."

Cyndaquil sprouted flames from his back, due to being happy and Dawn's hair was now a mess.

So Dawn had a new Pokemon on her team and the gang had two new friends to join them on their journey to Lilypad Town.