After saying goodbye to Looker, the group continued towards Dawn's next Pokemon Contest which was between them and Sunnyshore City. They eventually arrived in the town in which the contest would take place. The town even had an airport.

"Where are we?" asked Harry. Brock looked at his guidebook.

"Airport's are rare in Sinnoh," he said, "According to this there's only one on this side of Mount Coronet and one on the other side. So I guess we must be in Lilypad Town."

"Marill!" cried a voice and the group were surprised to see a small, round blue Pokemon with a ball on the end of its tail wandering around in the street.

"Why would a Marill, be wandering the streets?" asked Harry as he took out his pokedex.

"Maybe it's lost," Dawn said.

"Marill the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. Its floating tail allows it to remain steady against the strongest of water currents."

"Riolu?" Riolu said to Marill when it noticed them. Marill looked fascinated by Riolu and Piplup and smiled at Pikachu when he greeted him.

"Marill!" called a girl's voice, "Marill where are you?" Marill squirted a Water Gun into the air. A moment later a girl about the same age as Harry and Dawn appeared, "There you are. What have I told you about wandering off?" Marill just smiled cutely and jumped into her arms. The girls scolding look faded as she hugged the Pokemon.

"Hi," Dawn said and the girl paid attention to them for the first time.

"Hi," she said, "Are you here for the Johto Festival?"

"Johto Festival?" Dawn asked, "No I'm here for the Pokemon Contest."

"Ooh I'm looking forward to seeing that tomorrow!" the girl said enthusiastically, "My father agreed to let me stay and watch once the festival's over. Contests only started becoming popular in Johto earlier this year and they're still building contest halls there, so I've never been to one before."

"Well I'm Dawn and this is Piplup," said Dawn. Piplup puffed out his chest.

"I'm Harry and this is Riolu," Harry said. Riolu waved at the girl.

"I'm Ash and I travelled through Johto a couple of years ago," Ash said, "This is Pikachu." Pikachu waved.

"And I'm Brock, a Pokemon Breeder," Brock said.

"Nice to meet you all," said the girl, "I'm Lyra. Do you want to come to the Johto Festival? It's the last day but we've got a prize for whoever wins our little battle tournament.

"Battle tournament!" Ash and Harry's ears perked up at that.

"Yep," Lyra said cheerfully, "Better hurry if you want to register."

Harry, Ash and Dawn all decided to enter the tournament, which consisted of one-on-one battles. Lyra's father, a trainer named Thorton, was hosting the tournament and whoever won would not only get the prize but a chance to battle him too. What interested Harry and Ash about Thorton was that he was in charge of a special facility called the Battle Tower near Olivine City. There was no obvious resemblance between Lyra and Thorton so presumably she inherited her looks from her mother.

Ash, Dawn, Harry and Lyra got to the semi-finals with little difficulty. With only the four of them left, Harry was paired up with Lyra while Ash was paired up with Dawn. Ash and Dawn went first.

"Buizel, I choose you!" cried Ash and sent Buizel out onto the raised stage which served as the battlefield.

"Ambipom, spotlight!" cried Dawn and sent out Ambipom, "Use Swift!" Ambipom shot stars from her tail which circled around Buizel and then shot into the middle in order to strike him from all sides.

"Buizel use Brick Break!" ordered Ash and Buizel, who had finally learned Brick Break after seeing Harry's Floatzel use it so many times, raised his hand and jumped towards Ambipom.

"Grab it!" cried Dawn and Ambipom reached out with both of her tails and stopped Brick Break in mid-air, "Use Focus Punch!" Ambipom held onto Buizel's hand with one tail and charged up Focus Punch with the other.

"Water Gun!" Ash ordered and Buizel squirted a Water Gun into Ambipom's face causing her to let go and lose her focus, rendering Focus Punch useless. Buizel jumped back as Ash yelled, "Sonicboom!" Spinning, Buizel shot several Sonicbooms at Ambipom.

"Double Hit!" ordered Dawn and Ambipom's tails glowed purple before she struck each Sonicboom, destroying them with great precision.

"Use Aqua Jet!" ordered Ash and Buizel slammed into Ambipom with Aqua Jet knocking her backwards.

"Ambipom Swift!" shouted Dawn and Ambipom fired more stars from her tails causing Buizel to grimace as he was struck by them, "Focus Punch!"

"Aqua Jet!" ordered Ash and Buizel hit Ambipom first once again rendering Focus Punch useless.

"Double Hit, let's go!" ordered Dawn and Ambipom quickly recovered before slamming both of her tails into Buizel, one after the other, "Ambipom, finish it with Acrobatics!" Ambipom grinned as she used the move she had learned from Harry's Chimchar. Leaving behind two after-images she slammed into Buizel but didn't stop there. She also grabbed Buizel with both tails and tossed him right over her head, then jumped and bounced off his back before jumping back to her trainer's side of the stage.

"Buizel is unable to battle," said Thorton's assistant who was acting as the referee, "Ambipom wins!"

Next it was Harry and Lyra's turn. Lyra had only been using her Marill and Girafarig so far but now she revealed her Starter Pokemon.

"Go Bayleef!" she called and a Pokemon that looked like a sauropod with a leaf on its head and a ring of large green buds around its neck appeared.

"Bayleef the Leaf Pokemon and the evolved form of Chikorita. A spicy aroma emanates from around its neck. The aroma acts as a stimulant to restore health."

"Chimchar, take your position!" called Harry and Chimchar sprang cheerfully out of her Poke Ball. Thorton's assistant brought his hands down signalling the start of the match, "Use Flame Wheel!" Harry ordered and Chimchar rolled in flames towards Bayleef.

"Reflect!" called Lyra and Bayleef set up a blue box around its body which Chimchar rammed into. Bayleef winced on impact but held its ground and Chimchar sprang back.

"Flamethrower!" Harry ordered and Chimchar launched a stream of flames at Bayleef.

"Light Screen!" ordered Lyra and a yellow box surrounded Bayleef to weaken the power of the flames, although once again it winced from the super effectiveness of the attack, "Now use Body Slam!" Bayleef threw its full weight on top of Chimchar causing her to squeal with pain. Bayleef then jumped back to create some space between them. "Now Razor Leaf!"

"Bay!" Bayleef cried and swung its head sending sharp leaves from the leaf on its head which sent Chimchar flying.

"You're Bayleef's pretty strong," Harry said, "Chimchar use Acrobatics!" Chimchar darted forwards then jumped, landing on top of the blue box that reformed in retaliation to the Physical Attack. Chimchar then jumped of and tried to attack Bayleef from behind but Reflect blocked her again.

"Body Slam!" called Lyra.

"Dodge it!" Harry shouted. Although Bayleef was faster than it looked, Chimchar easily avoided it, "Flamethrower!" Chimchar fired Flamethrower but Light Screen reappeared and absorbed it. However Bayleef had now taken four super effective hits and despite the barriers it was beginning to tire.

"Bayleef, Poison Powder!" ordered Lyra and Bayleef waved its leaf and purple powder shot out from it. Chimchar glowed purple and started coughing from the poison, "Razor Leaf!"

"Flamethrower!" shouted Harry as Bayleef shot Razor Leaf at Chimchar. Chimchar hastily incinerated the leaves with her Flamethrower but Light Screen lit up again to deflect it. Harry knew that Bayleef's barriers would wear off soon however.

"Bayleef, Body Slam!" ordered Lyra and Bayleef threw itself at Chimchar.

"Dodge it!" called Harry and Chimchar jumped aside before wincing as the poison caused more damage. At that moment however, Reflect wore off, "Façade!" Chimchar glowed gold and threw herself into the surprised Bayleef, knocking it unconscious.

"What?" Lyra yelped in surprise. It wasn't suprising that Bayleef had lost to Chimchar but what was suprising was that Chimchar had used a Normal type move to land the finishing blow, even though she had super effective STAB moves at her disposal.

"Bayleef is unable to battle, Chimchar wins!" said Thorton's assistant.

"Façade gets more powerful when Chimchar's under the effect of a status condition," Harry explained to Lyra, "But I thought it would still be best to wait until Reflect wore off."

"That was smart," Lyra said, "Congratulations. I'd like to see if you can beat my dad though."

"Well I still have to beat Dawn first," Harry said and as he spoke, Dawn replaced Lyra on the stage. Lyra smiled at the pair of them before climbing down and joining the crowd. Harry knelt beside Chimchar and gave her a spray from an Antidote. She smiled gratefully and Harry recalled her before standing up to face Dawn.

"Pachirisu, spotlight!" cried Dawn and let out her EleSquirrel Pokemon.

"Leafeon, take your position!" called Harry and Leafeon smirked confidently at Pachirisu when he appeared, "Shadow Ball!" Leafeon formed a ball of shadowy energy in front of his mouth and shot it at Pachirisu.

"Super Fang!" ordered Dawn and Pachirisu's fangs glowed as it lunged straight at the Shadow Ball, cutting through it with its glowing teeth before continuing and biting Leafeon. He screamed in pain and was suddenly down to half of his original health.

"Leaf Blade!" Harry ordered and Leafeon swung the leaf on his head which glowed and knocked Pachirisu away before turning and slashing Pachirisu with his tail as well.

"Discharge!" ordered Dawn and Pachirisu shot a flare of blue electricity. Leafeon winced when the attack hit him, "Now use Super Fang!"

"Leafeon, dodge it!" cried Harry and Leafeon leapt away from Pachirisu's devastating fangs, "Shadow Ball!"

"Knock it away!" called Dawn and Pachirisu swung its large tail as Leafeon fired Shadow Ball. Pachirisu used its tail to swat Shadow Ball away, before turning to Leafeon.

"Quick Attack!" Harry ordered and Leafeon shot forwards and slammed into Pachirisu knocking it backwards.

"Pachirisu use Spark!" cried Dawn and Pachirisu surrounded itself with electricity and lunged.

"Dodge it!" called Harry and Leafeon jumped over Pachirisu who skidded to a halt.

"Discharge!" shouted Dawn and Pachirisu shot Discharge in all directions before Leafeon landed. Leafeon landed but then his leg spasms and he fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"Sunny Day!" Harry called and Leafeon shot Sunny Day into the sky, activating Leaf Guard and healing the paralysis but it took him some time to do so.

"Spark!" cried Dawn and Pachirisu rammed into Leafeon with the Electric attack. Although it wasn't very effective, Leafeon was tiring fast. Then he started absorbing sunlight and his injuries faded.

"Synthesis," Harry said, "That'll be useful."

"Pachirisu Super Fang!" ordered Dawn and Pachirisu clamped its powerful fangs onto Leafeon, suddenly making him a lot weaker.

"Leaf Blade!" Harry ordered but Dawn was ready.

"Dodge it!" she called and Pachirisu sprang back avoiding both of Leafeon's Leaf Blades.

"Shadow Ball!"

"Super Fang!"

Once again Pachirisu destroyed Shadow Ball as it closed in on Leafeon.

"Leaf Blade!" Harry shouted and Leafeon charged right towards Pachirisu and swung the leaf on his head as they passed each other. There was a short silence. Then Pachirisu collapsed.

"Pachirisu is unable to battle, Leafeon wins!" cried the assistant, "Harry Rowan wins the prize and a chance to battle Johto's Battle Tower Tycoon Thorton!" The crowd cheered. It suddenly struck Harry that he had not been at all nervous about performing in front of this crowd. He reasoned it was because they were in a town square with only people involved in the festival watching, rather than a stadium where not only were the crowds much bigger but everything was also being recorded live.

Thorton approached Harry with a glass case. Inside it was a dark green egg with red spots.

"Congratulations," Thorton said and gave Harry the egg, "I hope you will look after this baby Pokemon."

"I will," Harry said, "What's inside it?"

"You'll have to wait and see," replied Thorton.

"It's a Cyndaquil egg!" Brock called from the crowd, "I can tell by the colour and red spots." Thorton looked slightly annoyed that Brock had spoiled the surprise but Harry just smiled at him.

"Well as promised, you shall now battle against me," Thorton said and went back to his side of the battlefield, "Typhlosion, come forth!" A large Pokemon somewhat resembling a badger and a weasel appeared, standing on its hind legs.

"Phlosion!" roared the creature and flames blazed on the back of its neck showing it was ready to battle.

"Typhlosion the Volcano Pokemon and final form of Cyndaquil. It attacks with powerful flames and creates heat shimmers with intense fire to hide itself."

"Cyndaquil's parent, I assume?" Harry said and Thorton nodded, "Gabite, take your position." Gabite appeared and smirked at Typhlosion, "Use Dragonbreath!" Gabite fired a stream of white flames at Typlosion.

"Quick Attack!" ordered Thorton and Typhlosion got down on all fours and darted forwards, avoiding Dragonbreath easily and slamming into Gabite. Gabite grunted and then, without waiting for his trainers command, slashed Typlosion with Dragon Claw. Harry frowned as Typhlosion rubbed its cheek where Gabite had slashed it then snarled.

"Gabite, did you hear me tell you to use Dragon Claw?" Harry scolded but Gabite ignored him. Despite the bonding they had done in Snowpoint City, Gabite wasn't fully obedient yet.

"Typhlosion use Flamethrower!" ordered Thorton and Typhlosion fired a stream of flames that would give Paul's Magmortar's Flamethrower a run for its money.

"Dodge it!" Harry called but Gabite ignored him and crossed his fins. He snarled as the Flamethrower hit him but held firm. Typhlosion and Thorton both raised their eyebrows at his behaviour, "Gabite, what's wrong with you? I thought we were past this!"

"Interesting," said Thorton, "It seems that your Gabite believes it can defeat Typhlosion without your help. If so, it's mistaken. Use Quick Attack!" Typhlosion went down on all fours and shot towards Gabite knocking him backwards. Gabite lashed out with another Dragon Claw but Typhlosion jumped out of range, "Flamethrower!"

"Dragon Rage!" Harry ordered but Gabite fired a Dragonbreath instead. Harry grunted in frustration. Typhlosion's Flamethrower was stronger and Gabite roared in pain and frustration as the flames overwhelmed Dragonbreath and went on to strike him. "Gabite for Arceus' sake listen to me! You can't beat Typhlosion if you don't!" Gabite looked back at him, then grunted and jumped into the air, preparing a Dragon Rush. Typhlosion stood its ground as Gabite dived towards it surrounded by blue energy.

Typhlosion reached out with both hands and grabbed Gabite around the neck, stopping Dragon Rush completely.

Gabite stared at his opponent in shock. Typhlosion had just stopped his most powerful move effortlessly. Thorton decided it was time to finish this battle.

"Use Blast Burn!" he ordered. The flames on the back of Typhlosions neck turned bright blue. Gabite struggled as the blue fire surrounded Typhlosion's body, then erupted out and spread across the stage, stopping just short of Harry who stepped back from the searing heat. Typhlosion was still holding Gabite by the neck so he received the full force of the fiery explosion at point blank range.

"Gabite!" cried Harry. When the flames died away, Gabite's body was smoking slightly. Typhlosion let go of his neck and he fell to the ground.

"Gabite is unable to battle, Typhlosion wins!" called Thorton's assistant, "The victory goes to the Johto Tower Tycoon Thorton!"

Harry felt humiliated. Not because he had lost but because Gabite had been the same as he had before Snowpoint City. Harry had thought that Gabite would be obedient to him after being beaten by Brandon's Trapinch but for some reason the Cave Pokemon had ignored him again.

"Harry," said Thorton and he and Typhlosion stepped forwards, "Does your Gabite usually disobey you?"

"He hasn't done so since he was beaten by Pyramid King Brandon's Trapinch," Harry said.

"I see," Thorton was and was quiet for a moment, "I think your Gabite might be under the impression that it could defeat Typhlosion simply by having the type advantage. Fire type moves are not very effective on Gabite, as I'm sure you know, and therefore he arrogantly assumed victory was guaranteed simply because of his typing. I think that's why he didn't listen to you."

Harry looked at Gabite's scorched body. Blast Burn had put Flamethrower to shame in terms of power and Gabite looked rather badly hurt. Harry sighed and recalled Gabite.

"Do you think he'll have learned some humility now that a Fire type has defeated him?" he asked. Thorton shrugged.

"I hope so for your sake," he said.

Taser101, I've answered reviews from my very first reviewer because I might not have made it this far without her support.