11,000 hits!

And, the countdown starts to the end!

Countdown: 3

~~~Season 9: Johto League Elites~~~

Opening: Pokemon Johto

Chapter 58: Collapsing Coordinator

Andrew stood across from Lyra on the stage. Lyra was sweating slightly.

"Andrew is tough...It's gonna be hard, but we can manage!" She drew her pokeballs and sent out Meganium and Furret. "Let's do it!"

Andrew smiled. "Come on out, Ariados and Raticate!" He sent out a large, red arachnid with a scary looking pattern on its back and a large brown rat. "Ariados, Spider Web!" The clock started and Ariados span a large web across the stage and trapped Lyra's pokemon behind it, sending her points down slightly.

"Furret, Slash!" Furret jumped and hacked the large web apart. However, the sticky strands stuck to its paws and wound them up, unusable. "Dirty trick!" Lyra shouted.

"Heh. Raticate, Double Edge!" Raticate slung forward, coated in white energy. "Ariados, Psychic!" Ariados' eyes glowed and an blue power caused Raticate to go faster.

"Meganium, Seed Bomb!" Meganium shot powerful bombs towards Raticate. It plowed through them as they exploded, and slammed into Furret. Furret went sliding back into Meganium, but it was soon stopped. "Furret, Water Pulse and soften the string!" Furret placed a ball of water on his paws. "Great job, Stripe!" The strings fell and Furret growled. "Ice Beam!" Stripe turned and released a beam of ice at Raticate. "Meganium, Seed Bomb!" Meganium fired bombs at Ariados.

"Ariados, use Sludge Bomb!" Ariados countered the bombs with balls of sludge, igniting them in mid air. "Now, use Psychic!" Ariados picked up Raticate with the attack and pulled it towards him, Ice Beam missing. Lyra's points kept falling.

"Meganium, Petal Dance! Furret, Petal Dance!" Meganium's petals fluttered into the air and Furret jumped inside of them and froze them all into icy specs. Meganium shot them at the two pokemon on Andrew's side. They were battered and thrown to different sides of the stage by the sharp ice-petals. Andrew's points fell drastically. "Yes! Frozen Petal Dance is successful!" Lyra cheered.

"Not going to help for long!" Andrew unbuttoned his vest and threw his arm to he side. "Ariados, Psychic, Raticate, Hyper Beam!" Raticate fired a high-powered beam towards Ariados. Ariados quickly took control and threw it towards Lyra's pokemon.

"Meganium, duck! Furret, jump!" Furret jumped off of Meganium's head after landing quickly, and Meganium fell to belly. Furret flipped through the air. The beam exploded against a wall above the crowd, and Andrew's points fell. "Slash!" Furret fell down and slashed Raticate across the head. "Meganium, Vine Whip!" Meganium lashed out its whips and grasped onto Ariados' extra legs sticking out the top and threw it towards Raticate.

It toppled over Raticate.

Andrew's points fell, and one minute was left on the clock.

"Raticate, use Double Team!" Raticate wrapped its tail on Ariados and the two of them split into dozens of copies. "Sludge Bomb, Ariados!" Ariados released balls of sludge in the air above Furret and Meganium, who had situated themselves in the center of the field. The sludge gathered together in one large ball. "Raticate, jump above it and use Super Fang!" The Raticates whirred into the air and their already sharp fangs extended, puncturing the sludge. The sludge rained down, glowing white, over the two pokemon in the center of them.

"Furret, quick, use Ice Beam!" Furret fired a powerful beam into the air and created a floating layer of ice that froze the balls of sludge as they hit it and they started gathering up. Andrew's points fell. "Meganium, Seed Bomb. Furret, release the Ice Beam!" Furret rested and the frozen sludge balls plummeted to the ground. Meganium fired bombs and they exploded on the ice. Sprinkles of ice floated down over Furret and Meganium, making a nice appeal.

Andrew's points fell, and the clock buzzed.

"Time's up! And our winner is..." Jillian paused, "Lyra! She moves on to the Semi-Finals!" Jillian shouted.

Lyra cheered and Furret jumped towards her. She hugged it and also grasped Meganium's neck. She recalled them and galloped back stage.

There, she met with Andrew again.

"Nice battle, girl. You got some skills!" He said. They high-fived and Andrew gathered his stuff, and went into the audience to watch the next rounds.

Later, Lyra finished her Semi-Final battle.

"Ursaring, use Faint Attack!" A large brown bear rushed forward, followed by a blue pokemon with a large horn. "Heracross, Close Combat!" The boy that advanced in the Top 64 round.

"Togetic, use Metronome!" Togetic waved its hands and fired a large whirlwind from its wings, blowing back the two pokemon. "Yeah! Marill, Brine!" Marill released a pump of water and it exploded on the pokemon, depleting the opponent's points with a minute and a half left. Lyra cheered.

Next, Natalie finished her battle.

"Butterfree, Solarbeam!" Butterfree fired the beam it had been charging. It exploded on the Lanturn sitting in the water. Lanturn was ejected into the air, and it landed on top of a Shuckle. "Corsola, Rock Blast!" Corsola's horns glowed and it fired small white rocks. They pummeled the opponents, depleting the girl's points. Natalie was declared the winner and she beamed.

In the back room, Natalie and Lyra were the only two left.

"And now, our final match! The Grand Festival's...Grand Finale! Natalie...vs...Lyra!" Jillian announced excitedly.

Natalie and Lyra glared at each other.

"This is the final match. We've worked hard to get to this point," Natalie started.

"Yeah. We give it our all. We show them how we've grown to get here! We give them the best match ever!" Lyra cheered. They high-fived, shook hands and headed out onto the field.

Out there, Natalie stood on one side as Lyra stood on the other. Eight minutes was set on the clock for the finale.

"Here we go!" Jillian said at last.

Lyra drew her two pokeballs.

Natalie drew her two pokeballs.

They threw them to the field.

The finale of the Grand Festival is upon us! Two Coordinators who have beaten all the odds to get here, at this point in time to finally clash in a final battle of strength and appeal. Who will win in this amazing finale of the Johto Grand Festival. Coordinator vs. Coordinator, Rival vs. Rival...Lyra vs. Natalie. Stay reading to find out what happens in the shocking finale of the Grand Festival, next time, Chapter 59: Grand Finale.

O_O

Everyone, remember, this story will follow through to the Sinnoh Region after it ends~