So this Chapter was finished yesterday, but unfortunately, my internet stopped and I lost this chapter and chapter 26. Therefore, I had to rewrite these two chapters. However, this version is much better than last night's, so I'm happy. Chapter 26 is entitled "The Snowpoint Contest", when in reality half of it won't even be related to the contest. Chapter 27 will finish the contest. Enjoy!

Chapter 25: The Celestic Contest

Lyric gets out of bed and changes into her clothes. After gathering her stuff into her backpack, Lyric exits her room to head to the Pokemon Center counter, where she sees Joy and Nurse Joy speaking with each other.

"Mom!" Joy cries. "I need that plane ticket to go to the Grand Festival!"

Nurse Joy responds. "But Joy, you're supposed to become a nurse, like every girl in our whole family! You promised me that you would go to Nursing School in Canalave City."

"Fine, mom. I'll go to Canalave City on one condition: you let me fly to Sunyshore City and participate in the Grand Festival after I get the Celestic Ribbon."

Nurse Joy looks down, but then nods. "When I was your age, I wanted to enter the Sinnoh League. I guess it will just take you a little while to realize how great you could be at nursing."

Joy smiles and exits the Pokemon Center. Lyric walks up to Nurse Joy. "Here's my room key. I was wondering if you could register me for the Pokemon Contest today."

Nurse Joy nods and takes her key. After that, she scans Lyric's Pokedex. "You're all set. Good luck!"

Lyric hurries from the Pokemon Center and goes into the Celestic Contest Hall. She passes through swaths of spectators and enters a green room. Joy is preparing her Ambipom, so Lyric decides not to bug her. Empoleon comes out of his Pokeball excitedly. "So you want to appeal? Okay!" Lyric says.

After waiting several minutes, Marion's voice comes up on the intercom. "What a spectactular performance by Jeremiah! Our next coordinator is Lyric!"

Lyric stands up and returns Empoleon. She runs from the green room onto the open stage, where she begins her performance with Empoleon. "Empoleon! Spotlight!"

Empoleon bursts from his Pokeball surrounded by bubbles. His large body pops most of them, and then he lands on the ground, creating a loud thud and cracks in the earth. The audience is quiet, embarrassed for Lyric. "Uh, okay, Empoleon! Spin and use BubbleBeam!"

Empoleon spins rapidly, and then begins his BubbleBeam. He blasts a chunk out of the wall with it and falls over. "Oh, no, Empoleon! Uh, just, get up? Uh, use Drill Peck into the air!"

Empoleon spins again, but instead of facing the sky, he begins to dig up the stage. "No, Empoleon!"

The crowd laughs, and Lyric returns Empoleon with tears in her eyes. She runs off of the stage, beginning to cry. Once back in the green room, Lyric is met by Joy. "Hey, Lyric. Sorry about that."

"But what went wrong? Empoleon has been in so many contests before!"

"Sometimes, Pokemon just aren't cut out for performance. Empoleon is big, heavy, and powerful - three things that aren't the best for contests. Maybe he has run his course."

"You're right. I've got to get out of here so I can fix what went wrong before Snowpoint City. Bye, and good luck!" Lyric says. She grabs her stuff and waves goodbye, running from the contest hall.

After Lyric slows down, she begins to take a look at the scenery. "Wow, it looks like we're going through Mt. Coronet again. I haven't been to the west of Sinnoh since that cave-in. Too bad it's going to be super cold this time. My aunt lives near Lake Acuity, and she says it's always snowing up there."

Lyric passes into the cave, and then sees snow on the other end of it. She pulls a jacket, hat, gloves and a scarf, and lets Ponyta out for warmth. The two exit the cave and begin to trudge through the snow together. Ponyta's warmth melts the snow in their path, allowing them to move quickly. Lyric sees a house in the distance, and decides to stop their moving and head there for the night. Ponyta follows, but then suddenly finds a small Snover wanting a battle.

"Ponyta, come on! Use Flame Charge!" Ponyta runs at the Snover, and knocks it out in one hit. "Nice." Lyric says.

Soon, a Sneasel comes along. Ponyta knocks it out as well, but then at least twenty Weavile come out from the snow. "Uh-oh, Ponyta. Use Flare Blitz!" Ponyta runs in a circle, and nails about fifteen of the Weavile. The remaining five draw closer. "Ponyta! Use Low Kick!" Ponyta kicks her hind legs, knocking a few more Weavile, leaving one left. The Weavile jumps at Ponyta, scratching her. "Ponyta! Watch out and use Stomp!" Ponyta jumps up and steps on the head of Weavile, knocking it out.

"Great job, Pon - what?" Lyric asks. Ponyta begins to glow. "Ponyta! You're evolving!" Ponyta grows in size and then the light disappears, revealing Rapidash.

Rapidash lowers herself, allowing Lyric to get on her back. Rapidash rides off to the house, they knock on the door.

The door opens, and a woman begins to speak. "Lyric! I was hoping that you would come!", as the the journey continues!