Lilypad Contest

A lot happened after Lyra and Khoury joined the group to watch the Lilypad Contest. They listened to lots of stories from Ash, Brock and Tomo about when they went to Johto. Khoury ended up learning a lot about Pokemon breeding from Brock. Lyra revealed she had a Girafarig on her team. Later on Khoury caught a wild Gible for himself. During their time together Lyra couldn't help but think that Ash was an incredible trainer and wondered if Dawn liked him. Dawn informed them that Ash had a girlfriend named Anabel, so Lyra was unable to play matchmaker for him and Dawn.

The biggest thing that had happened was Dawn getting to know her new Cyndaquil. Even though it only just hatched, Cyndaquil already had the moves Smokescreen, Swift, Flame Wheel and Tackle and the egg move Fury Swipes. Unfortunately Piplup and Cyndaquil didn't get along that well. As Cyndaquil was still brand new to her team, Dawn gave Cyndaquil lots of attention and that made Piplup jealous. Piplup was obviously a spoiled Pokemon who liked getting all the attention and hated it when another Pokemon did. So Cyndaquil and Piplup fought like crazy nearly all the time, which made Dawn mad at them. She even had to tell them that if they didn't behave they would have a long timeout at Prof. Rowan's lab which the Pokemon didn't want at all, especially Piplup.

And now today was the day of the Lilypad Contest. Ash and Dawn were practicing with the Pokemon they were going to enter the competition with. Ash was going to use Metagross and Arcanine while Dawn was going to use Chatot and Mamoswine. Right now Dawn was trying something out with what Grotle did back at the Twinleaf festival; swallowing a move and gaining energy from it. Dawn had Mamoswine use Ice Shard and swallow it. After Mamoswine swallowed the ice his back was covered with ice.

"What do you think of that Ash?" Dawn asked.

"With that ice armor on it's back, Mamoswine looks like an ice warrior." Ash laughed.

"You're right." Dawn smiled.

Lyra and Khoury were impressed with what just happened.

"Grotle learned that accidentally." Brock explained.

Cyndaquil wanted to be in the contest too and he released flames from his back to show off.

"I'm using Chatot and Mamoswine for the contest." Dawn told Cyndaquil.

Being a baby, Cyndaquil was upset about not being in the contest because it was interested in it. Dawn picked Cyndaquil up and gave him a hug.

"You can cheer everyone else on." Dawn said.

Piplup of course wasn't happy that Cyndaquil was getting a hug from Dawn. But he remembered Dawn telling him that if he wasn't nice to Cyndaquil he'll get a time out in the Poke Ball, so Piplup just stayed quiet.

Pretty soon it was time for the Lilypad contest. Marian gave the usual introductions and she showed off the Lilypad ribbon. The Lilypad ribbon was a big pin with pink and white ribbons. Ash and Dawn were in the waiting room. Dawn had her contest dress the same way it was at the Hearthome contest and her hair had little swirls at the side. Ash was wearing a white naval uniform, with gold buttons and some small gold rope at the side, navy blue and gold stripped cuffs, a navy blue and white cap, black boots and a belt and white gloves.

Lyra, Khoury, Tomo and Brock came into the waiting room to wish Ash and Dawn luck.

"Wow Dawn, you look so pretty and Ash you look so handsome." Lyra said.

"Thanks very much." Ash said.

"Thank you Lyra." Dawn smiled.

"I can't wait to see you two out there on the stage." Lyra said.

"Well I know I will win my fifth ribbon today." Dawn said.

"Don't count me out Dawn." Ash said. "I plan to get my fourth ribbon here."

It was soon time for the contest to start. Lyra, Khoury, Tomo and Brock were now in the seats. The appeal then started and Dawn was up first. She released Chatot with a yellow party seal.

"Chatot, use Aerial Ace." Dawn said.

Chatot used Aerial Ace while the party seal was still around and created a flashy opening.

"Hey that's what Dawn's mom did back in Twinleaf Town." Tomo said.

"She must have decided to follow one of Johanna's moves." Brock said.

"Okay Chatot, now use Feather Dance." Dawn said.

Chatot did a little dance while releasing feathers from his wings.

"Now use Air Cutter." Dawn said.

Chatot's Air Cutter attack broke the feathers apart, creating feathery snow. Chatot finished with a bow.

Lyra and Khoury were learning a lot about Pokemon contests. The gang told them about contests before, but seeing a real one in person helped them understand better. The other contestants went after Dawn and soon it was finally Ash's turn. He released Metagross with an electric seal. The audience was in awe when they saw the shiny Metagross.

"Metagross, use Magnet Rise." Ash said.

Metagross used Magnet Rise to lift himself into the air.

"Now use Rock Slide." Metagross made a lot of rocks appear and then used Meteor Mash to break the rocks into pieces. To finish it off, Metagross used Flash.

After the appeal round was over Tomo, Brock, Lyra and Khoury went to see Ash and Dawn in the waiting room. Lyra thought Chatot and Metagross were great during the appeal round and she started to think Pokemon contests were fun to watch. The results soon came and both Ash and Dawn made it to the second round.

"Congratulations." Khoury told both Ash and Dawn.

"Now it's time for Mamoswine to shine." Dawn said.

"So it's finally time for Mamoswine's stage debut." Ash said.

He remembered Dawn wanted to enter Mamoswine in a contest before, but she couldn't because of it's disobedience.

"But since Ash is using Arcanine in the second round Mamoswine will have a hard time." Tomo said.

"No need to worry." Dawn replied. "We are good and ready no matter what."

It was soon time for the battle round and Tomo, Brock, Lyra and Khoury were back in their seats. Dawn was first and she was facing a coordinator named Mario. Dawn released Mamoswine with a smoke seal, while Mario released a Granbull.

Mario made the first move."

"Fire Fang." He told Granbull.

"Dodge it and use Ice Shard." Dawn said.

Mamoswine dodged the attack and created a ice shard. It was time for the special trick; Mamoswine ate the ice shard and the ice armor formed on his back. The judges and audience were very impressed by this tactic. It's something none of them had seen before.

"Alright Mamoswine, use Hidden Power." Dawn said.

Mamoswine's Hidden Power orbs circled around Mamoswine and made the ice armor sparkle beautifully like crystals. Then Mamoswine charged towards Granbull with Take Down. Mario told Granbull to dodge, but Mamoswine tackled Granbull and it was immediately knocked out. Dawn won the battle.

Dawn felt a bit depressed because she won the battle so easily.

"Don't forget Dawn." Ash said. "Mamoswine is stronger than it normally is when it's got the ice armor on it's back. Just like how Grotle gets stronger than normal when it eats the Energy Ball."

"Yes, you're right." Dawn sighed.

The truth is, she wanted to do a few more things with Mamoswine during the battle. So she decided to make the next round flashier. Ash defeated his opponent with Arcanine and the other battles went on. Then it was time for Ash and Dawn to face each other in the semi-finals.

"Oh wow, Ash and Dawn are up against each other." Lyra said.

"I don't know who to root for Ash or Dawn." Khoury said.

"Well one can never tell who will win over the other. All we can do is see what happens." Brock said.

Ash sent Arcanine out with a fiery seal while Dawn sent Mamoswine out with a smoke seal again.

"Ice Shard." Dawn told Mamoswine.

They did the ice armor trick again.

*'I thought they would do this again.'* Ash thought.

"Use Superpower." Dawn commanded.

"Dodge it and use Flamethrower on the ice." Ash said.

Arcanine jumped to dodge Mamoswine and then released Flamethrower onto Mamoswine's back. Not only did Mamoswine take damage, but the ice on his back melted.

"Woah the ice armor is gone." Khoury said.

"That's Ash for you." Brock said. "He always finds a way to overcome obstacles."

"He is amazing." Lyra said, impressed with Ash's moves.

Mamoswine wasn't happy with what Arcanine did though and he started snorting angrily.

"Calm down Mamoswine and use Mud Bomb." Dawn said.

Mamoswine did fire a Mud Bomb attack, but Arcanine used the fiery Counter Shield technique to counter the Mud Bomb attack and it hit Mamoswine. The audience and judges liked the counter shield technique. Mamoswine was even angrier now and charged at Arcanine with Take Down, but Arcanine jumped out of the way. Mamoswine got more and more upset and Ash noticed it. Dawn tried to get Mamoswine to calm down and listen to her but it was no use; Mamoswine was so angry and stubborn right now there was nothing she could do to stop him. Mamoswine used a variety of attacks like Hidden Power, Ancient Power and Mud Bomb. But Arcanine kept using the counter shield to counter the attacks. Then Mamoswine charged with Take Down and Arcanine charged with Flame Wheel, making the two big Pokemon charge into each other.

Just then time was up. The results were, due to Mamoswine's disobedience, Ash with a lot more points than Dawn. So Ash was the winner. Dawn was disappointed she didn't earn her fifth ribbon again, but she smiled at Ash wishing him congratulations. Ash happily stroked Arcanine for the win and then he looked at Dawn.

"I think Mamoswine needs some time out at Prof. Rowan's lab for a bit after what happened today." He said to her.

"You're right." Dawn said.

Mamoswine felt very ashamed for what happened and for making Dawn lose.

"Cheer up Mamoswine." Dawn said. "There's still the next Pokemon contest and that time we'll be better."

Mamoswine still felt guilty though.

Ash went on to the finals and Arcanine defeated the opponent's Pokemon, which was a Tyrouge. Therefore Ash was the winner of the Lilypad Contest and the Lilypad Ribbon. So now Ash had four ribbons and only needed one more just like Dawn.

Lyra felt sorry for Dawn losing the contest and pointed out she should have used another Pokemon instead of Mamoswine.

"Well it is true Mamoswine blew it for us." Dawn admitted. "But I still had to give Mamoswine a chance. Ash, Brock and Tomo once told me that every Pokemon you have deserves a chance to shine. So Mamoswine and I will work hard together and we'll win the next contest together."

"Wow Dawn." Lyra said. "You lost this battle and you're still stoked."

"Well that is because I have my friends and my Pokemon by my side to help me get back up when I'm down." Dawn said. "And it has been like that ever since we first met."

Lyra and Khoury agreed that it was nice to have friends by your side no matter what happens.

So the Lilypad Contest was over, but there was still more to come.