Author's Note: We're back at last! After nearly 8 months, Pokemon NG is ready to be continued! Thank you to all of our patient readers and fans!
Megan's POV
After a long (but thankfully uneventful) journey from Fortree City, we finally arrived in Lilycove City.
"When my mom was here, she learned how to make Pokeblocks for the first time. There's a berry market around here that sells all kinds of berries used to make them. Maybe we could make some?" I said to Adam and Jason.
"Pokeblocks are like poffins, right?" Adam asked.
"They're both made with berries, but their textures are different. Poffins are softer than Pokeblocks." I explained. I then continued my mom's story.
"My mom also made a friend who complimented her Combusken's moves, so she decided to use Combusken in the contest held here. Maybe I'll use mine as well, if there's a contest coming up here in the city."
We eventually reached the Pokemon Center and upon walking in, we spotted April and Adrian, who were watching the TV screen in the lobby. We walked over to them to say hello.
"Hey, Sis. Hey, Adrian." I greeted.
"Hey, guys." Adam and Jason said.
"Hey," they greeted us.
"What were you watching?" I asked, since whatever it was had just ended as we approached.
"It was an ad for the next Pokemon contest, which is being held here in Lilycove City in a few days time." Adrian replied.
"And I'm gonna win it." April stated.
"We'll see about that. I'm set on winning it, since Mom won this very same contest when she was traveling with Adam's dad." I stated back.
"We'll just see who wins. Because I feel the same way, Megan."
"I've gotten my fifth ribbon since the last time we saw one another. So I won't be competing in any more contests until the Grand Festival, since I'm now qualified for it. I'll be watching April from the stands." Adrian said.
"Wow, congratulations, Adrian." I said to him.
We then said goodbye to Adrian and my sister and went to the front desk to get a room for our stay in Lilycove City. My mind was already focusing on what training I would be doing in order to prepare for the contest.
On the day of the contest, I stood in backstage waiting area with all of the other coordinators, my sister, and our group of friends, all ready for the contest to begin. Espeon wasn't by my side, however. She would be watching me in the audience, along with Adam and Jason.
As I was watching the introduction of the judges, my mind wandered back to earlier while we were all waiting. My sister and my friends had all revealed that they each had four ribbons now, while I still only had three.
I was both worried and nervous at this news. Because if any of them were to win today, they would have five ribbons and qualify for the Grand Festival. But if I were to win, then I would be caught up to them. Regardless if one of them were to win, the others would be behind as well, but it would keep me even further behind, with only three ribbons! I definitely felt a lot of pressure with this contest because time was running out for me to win my ribbons if I wasn't careful.
But I still felt confident with all the practicing that I had done with my Pokemon. I didn't doubt them. I knew that we would just have to give it our all, like always, and do the best we could as a team.
The contest started with the appeals round and soon enough, Ashlyn was called to get ready.
"Next up is Ashlyn!"
Ashlyn ran out and spun, tossing her Pokeball.
"Swinub, let's go!" Swinub appeared, surrounded by bubbles.
"Use Ice Beam!" Ashlyn cried. The bubbles were frozen in midair and Swinub flipped and landed on the stage. The frozen bubbles began to drop towards the floor.
"Use Take Down!" Swinub leaped into the air and slammed into the frozen ice and shattered it. As Swinub landed back on stage, small shards of ice rained down all over. It looked like a small cloud of snow had fallen over Swinub.
The crowd cheered as Ashlyn curtsied and waited for her score to be shown. 7.5, 7.6, and 7.8, totaling to 22.9 points.
Before long, it was my turn. I took a breath to calm my nerves as I waited backstage to be introduced. Beautifly and I could do this. We would get through this round and to go the battles!
"Next up is Megan!"
I ran out and jumped over the stairs. As I spun, I tossed my Pokeball.
"Spotlight, Beautifly!" I cried. Beautifly appeared, surrounded in a big heart.
"Use Air Cutter!" The heart shattered as the move hit it and red glitter rained down all over the stage.
"Now use Silver Wind!" The silver mixed in with the red glitter of the heart.
"Use Gust, Beautifly!" A small twister formed with how Beautifly used the move and the silver and red glitters were now swirling along inside of it, creating a sparking red-and-silver twister.
"Air Cutter!" The move hit the twister and the glitter exploded outward across the stage, slowly raining down.
I curtsied as Beautifly landed on my shoulder. The crowd gave their biggest cheer yet, which was a good sign. My score was 8, 7.9, and 8.3, totaling to 24.2 points.
As I made my way back to the waiting area, I passed April in the hallway. She was clearly up next. I gave her a quick hug for good luck before we parted ways. As I rejoined my friends, we looked up at the screen and I saw April running out onto the stage.
"Curtain, Minun!" Minun appeared, surrounded by hearts enclosed in bubbles.
"Use Discharge!" The electricity hit the bubbles and popped them and burst the hearts, causing droplets of water and sparkles to rain down.
"Use Swift!" Stars shot out across the stage.
"Now use Quick Attack!" Minun shot forward with speed and jumped across the stars.
"Now use Discharge again!" Minun jumped off the stars and into the middle of where the stars were gathered. Minun released the attack in midair and burst the stars before flipping and landing on the stage as glitter and sparks rained down.
April curtsied and looked to see her score. It was 8.5, 8, and 7.7, which totaled to 24.2 points. She and I had the same score for our appeals. Ashlyn had scored lower than us.
A few more coordinators went before it was Skye's turn. Skye ran out and spun, tossing her Pokeball.
"Spotlight, Corphish!" Corphish appeared, surrounded by glitter.
"Use Protect!" As the green shield formed around Corphish, the glitter hit it, causing ripples to appear and for the glitter to seem to hang in midair.
"Use Bubble Beam, then use Water Gun!" The bubbles shot in a straight line and then burst as the Water Gun shot through them. Droplets of water rained down across the stage.
Her score was 7, 7.4, and 8, which made her total 22.4 points.
It was soon Christina's turn to perform. She ran out and jumped over the stairs, tossing her Pokeball. The stage had been turned into a pool, so she must have been using a Water Pokemon.
"Showtime, Luvdisc!" Luvdisc appeared, surrounded by smoke, and landed in the water.
"Use Water Pulse!" The attack shot through the smoke and revealed Luvdisc as it cleared the smoke. It was a clever way to make an entrance.
"Now use Aqua Ring!" Luvdisc shone with pretty colors from the attack and the reflection of it in the water made it look even more stunning.
"Use Brine!" Powerful water shot out from the pool.
"Ice Beam!" The Ice Beam hit the water and froze it in the air, showcasing both strength and beauty by freezing the powerful move.
Christina curtsied as her score was shown. It was 8.5, 7.5, and 8, which made her score exactly 24 points.
After a few more coordinators, it was time for Amber's appeal, which would close out the first round.
"Absol, spotlight!" she cried as she spun. Absol appeared, surrounded by confetti.
"Use Double Team!" Absol cloned itself.
"Use Quick Attack!" Now Absol and its copies were speeding around in a circle on the stage.
"Now use Night Slash!" All of the copies vanished and the real Absol leaped into the air and used the attack. The attacked slammed into the stage, shaking the contest hall with its display of power.
Amber's score was 8, 7.7, and 7.5, which made 23.2 points.
... ...
"We had the highest scores among all of our friends, April." I said as we waited for the top eight coordinators to be announced.
"Yeah, and we tied with the same score for this round." April added. "Looks like all of our practice really paid off."
"It seems like we were both serious about winning this contest."
As the announcement was made about which coordinators would be moving on to the battles, I looked at the pictures on the screen and saw that all six of us had made it, along with two boys.
As for who would be battling who, it would Christina vs Skye, Ashlyn against one of the boys, April was going up against Amber, and I would be facing the other boy.
... ...
"To my left is Christina and to my right is Skye! Five minutes on the clock...and begin!" Sofia announced.
"Curtain, Seviper!" Christina cried.
"Breloom, spotlight!" Skye cried.
"Use Bite!" Christina cried, not wasting time.
"Dodge it!"
Seviper's attack missed, but that was what Christina had planned as she commanded her Pokemon to use Poison Tail. The attack landed before Skye could say anything. Christina had it planned from the start. She had anticipated what Skye would do.
"Mach Punch!" Skye shouted, trying to get back on track.
"Block it with Poison Tail!"
Both moves collided with one another and fought for dominance.
"Use Dynamic Punch!" Breloom's free arm slammed into Seviper, landing a powerful hit. Skye had evened the score.
"Shake it off, Seviper!" Christina yelled. Seviper quickly got up and was ready to continue.
... ...
The battle was neck and neck, up until the buzzer sounded. Who would emerge victorious?
"The winner is...Christina!"
... ...
"To my right is Ashlyn and to my left is Joseph! Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Spotlight, Dragonair!" Ashlyn cried.
"Go, Gloom!" Joseph cried.
"Use Twister, Dragonair!"
"Dodge it, Gloom!"
But the Twister struck, despite Gloom's attempts to dodge.
"Use Mega Drain!"
"Use Agility to dodge it!"
Dragonair was much faster and avoided it with ease.
... ...
"Use Bullet Seed!"
"Destroy it with Dragon Rage!"
Dragonair's attack blasted through the seeds and knocked Gloom down.
"It's down! Finish it with Dragon Tail!" The attack slammed into Gloom, knocking it out with only a few seconds left.
It was clear that Ashlyn had really improved since the last time I'd seen her compete.
"Ashlyn wins!"
... ...
"To my right is April and to my left is Amber. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Curtain, Roselia!" April cried.
"Spotlight, Psyduck!" Amber shouted.
"Use Water Gun, Psyduck!"
"Poison Sting, Roselia!"
The two moves collided and canceled one another out.
"Use Zen Headbutt!"
"Stop it with Energy Ball!"
The attack struck Psyduck and sent it flying backwards.
April's Pokemon had a type advantage, and she was taking full advantage of it. It was clear that my sister had trained hard for this contest, wanting to win it badly, just like our mom had done.
... ...
April had more points left, but not by much. Despite being at a disadvantage with her Water Pokemon, Amber was showing that she wasn't going to be easy to beat! Only a few seconds remained on the clock.
"Use Magical Leaf!"
"Use Confusion and stop it!"
The leaves were stopped and thrown off to the sides.
"Use Hydro Pump! Full power!"
"Energy Ball!"
Amber knew that she had to go all-out before time was up, so she had Psyduck launch one last full-power Hydro Pump. It blasted through the Energy Ball and destroyed it, and then the blast of water struck Roselia. But would it take off enough of April's points for Amber to win?
"Time's up! And the winner is...April!"
... ...
It was my turn to battle now. This would decide who would be the last coordinator going to the semifinals.
"To my right is Megan and to my left is Thomas. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Spotlight, Combusken!"
"Let's go, Cacturne!"
"Combusken, use Quick Attack!"
"Energy Ball!"
The Energy Ball slammed into Combusken and actually stopped him. I had to admit, I was surprised by that. I didn't think that his Pokemon's Grass attacks would be that powerful against a Fire Pokemon.
I thought that I wouldn't have any problems, having a type advantage, but this was clearly going to be harder than I'd thought!
"Use Flamethrower!"
"Dodge it!"
"Spin while using it, Combusken!"
... ...
My points were half gone. Thomas had about the same amount missing. This would be close!
"Sucker Punch!"
"Meet it with Double Kick!"
Cacturne was hit by Combusken's other leg as he kicked, once the first leg was blocked.
"Flamethrower!" Cacturne took a direct hit from the flames and went flying backwards.
The buzzer then sounded and I looked up at the screen.
"Megan wins!"
I let out a sigh of relief as everyone cheered for me. I was going to the semifinals, but it would only get harder from here.
As I went back to the waiting area, the match ups for the semifinals were shown. Christina would battle Ashlyn and I was going up against my sister.
"Well, it looks like we'll see who wants to win this contest more, Sis." April said.
I nodded my head. We would be battling after Christina and Ashlyn had finished.
... ...
"The semifinals will now begin to determine who will be moving on to the finals to take home the Lilycove City Ribbon! To my left is Christina and to my right is Ashlyn. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!" Sofia announced.
"Curtain, Seviper!" Christina cried.
"Spotlight, Dragonair!" Ashlyn cried.
"Use Poison Sting!"
"Use Dragon Rage!"
Dragonair blasted through the attack easily, striking Seviper.
"Now use Hyper Beam!"
"Dodge it!"
Seviper was able to get out of the way in time. Dragonair needed to rest for a turn after using Hyper Beam, so Christina saw her chance!
"Use Bite, Seviper!" she screamed. Seviper used its sharp fangs to chomp down hard, biting Dragonair's neck.
... ...
"Use Hyper Beam, Dragonair!"
"Dodge it, Seviper!"
But Seviper wasn't able to dodge it in time.
"Don't give up! Use Poison Tail!"
"Dodge it and use Dragon Tail!"
Dragonair jumped into the air, flipped, and landed the hit directly on Seviper's head, causing it to faint.
"Ashlyn wins and is moving on to the finals!"
... ...
"It's a battle of sisters with this next round! To my right is April and to my left is Megan. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!"
"Curtain, Roselia!" April cried.
"Spotlight, Combusken!" I cried.
"Use Poison Sting!"
"Burn through it with Flamethrower!"
Flamethrower went straight through Poison Sting and scorched Roselia.
"Now use Quick Attack!" I cried, since Roselia was still recovering. The attack hit its mark. So far, so good.
"Roselia, use Petal Dance!"
"Combusken, jump!"
Combusken leaped into the air to avoid the attack.
"Energy Ball!" April ordered. Combusken was still in the air and wouldn't be able to dodge! I had to think fast!
"Deflect it with Double Kick!" I shouted. Combusken kicked the Energy Ball while falling and knocked it away.
I had confidence in my Pokemon and it wasn't just because I had a type advantage. I knew that I could win this, and I'd make my mom proud!
... ...
Time was almost up, but I had a clear lead in points. Victory was almost mine!
"Use Double Kick!" I cried, since Roselia was still recovering from a previous Flamethrower attack.
"Dodge, Roselia!" April cried, but her Pokemon couldn't do so.
The buzzer sounded shortly afterwards.
"Moving on to the finals is...Megan!"
As the crowd cheered, April walked over and gave me hug. I hugged her, too.
"Great job, Sis. Now go and win that ribbon! Do it for Mom!" she encouraged me.
"I will! I sure hope she's watching me right now!" I replied.
... ...
"Folks, it's time for the final battle to begin. One of these girls will take home the Lilycove City Ribbon! To my left is Ashlyn and to my right is Megan. Five minutes on the clock...and begin!" Sofia announced.
"Spotlight, Combusken!" I cried.
"Curtain, Dragonair!" Ashlyn cried.
After watching Ashlyn's battles throughout the contest, I knew that Dragonair would be tough to beat...but not impossible. I had a plan for how Combusken could win: I'd use Combusken's speed to dodge Dragonair's powerful attacks. And since Dragon Pokemon were resistant to Fire attacks, I'd use Combusken's Fighting attacks to get in quick hits when I could.
"Use Dragon Rage!"
"Stop it with Flamethrower!"
The two moves collided and canceled one another out. I could still use Fire attacks for defense instead of offense.
"Use Slash!" I cried, since there was smoke covering the stage to conceal Combusken's position.
"Be careful, Dragonair."
"Now, Combusken!" Combusken leaped into the air and flipped, his claws ready to strike.
"Dodge it!" Dragonair dodged the attack, but I wasn't finished yet!
"Switch it up and use Double Kick!"
Combusken flipped once again and launched his attack, striking Dragonair.
Just stick to your plan, Megan. I told myself in my mind, trying to keep myself calm. Stick to your plan, don't panic, and you'll win this.
... ...
This was going to be close. We kept matching each other move for move, but my plan was working. I was slowly bringing down Ashlyn's points, but we were both still giving it our all!
"Dragon Tail!"
"Double Kick!"
Both moves collided and fought for dominance.
"Do it! Now!" I cried. Combusken's other foot swung around and connected with Dragonair, right before the buzzer sounded.
"And the winner of the contest is...Megan!" Sofia announced as the crowd began cheering and my photo appeared the screen.
Immense relief flooded over me as I let out a scream of joy amongst the cheering crowd. I felt very proud of myself. I had won a ribbon that my mom had won all those years ago. I had followed in my mom's footsteps once again!
Now outside of the contest hall after receiving my ribbon, I met up with Adam, Jason, and all the other girls. They all congratulated me on the win, having earned my fourth ribbon.
"We all have four ribbons now, and are all just one step away from the Grand Festival!" Skye said happily, but also full of determination.
"That's true, and there's no doubt that we'll all make it!" I said.
I was happy that I had caught up to my sister and friends. Now we were all just one step away from our ultimate goal!
Author's Note: Megan wins her fourth ribbon, matching the number of ribbons won by her sister and friends! Each girl is one ribbon away from qualifying for the Hoenn Grand Festival!
But which one of them will get their fifth ribbon first? Let us know which one you think it will be, and stay tuned for the next chapter of Pokemon NG!