Maxie's Bad Day

By Lord Agravane the Undead

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters within.


1

Ok, so this was NOT turning out to be one of the best days that Maxie had even had. True, it wasn't particularly horrible at the moment but still. Losing a bet was bad. Losing a bet to *Archie* was worse!

Maxie did not like losing to his rival.

And the worst part of it all? Maxie had lost a bet that he was had been certain to win. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken up the challenge in the first place.

It had been Maxie's brilliant (?) idea to challenge Archie to a Spicy Food Eating Contest. After all, Maxie was used to eating spicy food (such as lava cookies) and he was almost certain that somebody like Archie lived on sardines and tuna fish and wouldn't recognise a spice if it danced in front of him, dressed like a showgirl from Nimbasa City.

So Maxie had invited Archie round and ordered two extra hot curries from the Mauville Curry Emporium. The idea was that the loser would be the one to take a drink of water from the water cooler first (AKA, Archie). That was what had been *supposed* to happen. Instead, Archie had somehow managed to resist and Maxie had given in and frantically downed a glass of water, after feeling like he'd actually been eating lava from Mount Chimney.

Now the two team leaders stood in the Dining Hall; Archie wearing a satisfied smirk and Maxie, a look of disbelief. Courtney was glaring at Archie as if to say Don't you dare make the Boss do something really awful and Tabitha was finishing off what was left of Maxie's curry.

"Ok Archie, you won fair and square," Maxie sighed. "What must I do?"

Archie rubbed his beard. "Hm, let's see. You've gotta…spend the day at Slateport Beach".

Maxie winced. OK, so it could be worse but still…

"Define day, as in length," he said.

"ALL day," said Archie. "Until the sun goes down. Which will be at 19:57 tonight".

Maxie checked his watch. "But it's only 11:24 now. That means I'll be there for ages".

"Oh boo hoo," Archie scoffed. "Like as if spending at day at the beach will kill you".

"I…don't like being outdoors too much".

"Sure, I know that," Archie said, rolling his eyes. "You'd rather spend every day holed up in a smoky volcano. Well, today you can't. You've gotta go to the beach".

"OK, fine," Maxie huffed. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it".

Courtney felt sorry for her Boss. "Don't worry Maxie," she said. "Me and Tabitha will come too, to keep you company".

"Uh, we will?" Tabitha asked.

"Yes," said Courtney firmly.

"Um, thanks…I think," said Maxie.

"Good, good!" Archie grinned. "So, shall we be on our way then?"


Going to Slateport Beach was bad, Maxie thought. Now, it was becoming worse again. He stood outside one of the little striped beach huts, holding a pair of swim shorts. Archie stood opposite him, arms folded across his chest.

"Come on Maxie, stop being such a wuss," he said. "You didn't think you were gonna spend the day here wearing your bloody long coat and thermal bodysuit, did ya?"

"Yes," said Maxie at once.

Archie facepalmed. Then he pointed to the beach hut.

"Go in and get changed," he ordered. "Courtney and Tabitha are". Archie nodded towards two nearby huts. "They're not sissies, unlike their Boss".

"I'm not a sissy," Maxie said, stung by Archie' remark. "I just don't wanna…" He trailed off, blushing.

"This day is not gonna get any easier, is it," he muttered, slinking inside the stripy hut.

Five minutes later, Maxie came back out, wearing just his swim shorts. He felt terribly exposed and embarrassed. Luckily (?) his attention was quickly diverted by Courtney and Tabitha, who had also emerged. They were wearing almost unbelievably skimpy swimwear. Maxie screamed and covered his eyes.

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Tabitha shrugged. "What's up with him? Anybody would think he'd seen a Great Old One coming up from beneath the ocean".

"Maybe it's just the ocean in general," Courtney suggested. "There is a disturbing amount of it, you know".

"Oi!" Archie said at once. "Bloody cheek!"

"My eyes!" Maxie moaned, taking off his glasses so he could clamp his hand over them. "They burn!"

"Why are they burning Boss?" said a familiar voice. Maxie risked uncovering them and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a blurry figure there that looked like it could possibly be the grunt M43.

"Is it the sight of my boyfriend in swim shorts cus maybe they are burning with passion?" the grunt enquired. "Uh wait, it isn't, it is Boss? I mean, you can do anything you want obviously, what with being my Boss and all but I really would like it more if you didn't fancy my boyfriend".

Maxie put his glasses back on and M43 came into view. "It's OK M43," he sighed. "I don't fancy him; he's all yours".

"Goody," M43 said happily. He went over to Tabitha and took his hand. "Come on, let's go make a sandcastle".

"Sure Berri," said Tabitha, allowing himself to be led away. Courtney, however, was becoming excited at the sight of the sea and she went over to Maxie.

"Come on Maxie, I wanna paddle! It's too hot, let's go and cool down in the water," she said eagerly.

"I don't…" Maxie began but Archie accosted him, slapping him on the back.

"That's a great idea. Come on, I'll teach you to swim".

"I don't want to learn how to swim!" Maxie protested but Archie didn't listen. He steered Maxie down to the water's edge, with Courtney skipping along in front of them.

"It looks so clean and pretty and nice and OOOOH!" Courtney shrieked, backing away from the sea in alarm. "It's moving!"

"Yes, that's caused by the moon's pull on the ocean," Maxie explained. Archie poked him in the ribs.

"Here, shut it mate! I'm the one who explains sea stuff!" He turned to Courtney and smiled.

"It's caused by the moon's pull on the ocean".

"Uhuh!" Courtney nodded her head and cautiously approached the sea. A wave came towards her and she squealed and rushed towards Maxie, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Maxie, it's chasing me!" she cried.

"You Team Magma lot are such wimps!" Archie scoffed. He strode into the waves, splashing with his feet. "See, it's perfectly safe". However, he accidentally kicked out at a Corphish. The Corphish was not happy and it jumped up and pinched Archie on the ass.

"Aaaarggghhh, bloody hell!" Archie yelled, splashing round in circles, trying to get the Corphish to let go. Maxie and Courtney yelled with laughter.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwwww, ugh, it's not funny!" Archie shouted. He managed to grab the Corphish and threw it at Maxie. Maxie dodged out of the way but by doing so, he slipped on a piece of seaweed and slid into the sea, tumbling right over. A wave splashed over his head and he panicked.

"Help, I'm drowning!" he screamed. Courtney gasped and forgetting her own fear, rushed into the sea to try and save him. However, Archie was closer and he grabbed Maxie under the arms and lifted him to his feet.

"Hey, you're alright mate, don't panic", he reassured Maxie. Maxie clung to Archie, gasping and spitting out water.

"Courtney, you saved me," he panted. "I nearly drowned!"

"That's Archie, not me," said Courtney, who had darted out of the sea again.

"Huh?" said Maxie, blinking water out of his eyes. He looked up at Archie, who was holding him firmly.

"Ewwwwwwwwwww!" Maxie cried, revolted. "Archie, why are you cuddling me

"I wasn't. I just saved you from drowning, I mean from thinking you were drowning," Archie said helpfully. "You were the one who hugged me first".

"I did not," Maxie said, squirming away from Archie. He looked round and realised everything was horribly blurred. He put his hand to his face and gasped.

"Oh! Where are my glasses?"

"They must have fell off when the wave tried to drown you," said Archie.

Maxie groaned. "Help me find them, please. They've got my Mega Stone in and I can't see at all without them".

"Sure," said Archie at once. He got down on his hands and knees, feeling about in the water for Maxies' glasses. Even though they were nervous of the sea, Maxie and Courtney did the same.

"Don't worry Maxie, we'll soon get them back," said Courtney.

"Yeah," said Archie, groping about in the soft sand under the water. Maxie hunted too but the waves kept splashing the back of his head and he didn't like it. He stood and backed away a little.

"Be careful mate, don't tread on 'em," Archie said.

"I won't, it's just your sea is trying to drown me!" Maxie said. "This is why we need more land and… he bumped into somebody from behind, tripping over them and falling back into the water.

"Hey, watch where you're going, idiot!" somebody said roughly.

"I like that! You tripped me up first, you blockhead!" Maxie said. From somewhere nearby, he heard Archie groan.

"Maxie, I found your glasses!" Courtney yelled. Maxie heard the sloshing of water and somebody pressed something cold and metal onto his face. Everything instantly became clear. Courtney stood there, beaming at him, Archie was nearby, his hands over his eyes and in front of him was an angry looking sailor. A really tough, muscled, angry sailor, about a head taller than Maxie.

"I'm gonna put you in hospital for barging into me like that," he threatened, raising his fists.

"OI NO!" Archie shouted, wading over. "You can't hit a guy with glasses on".

"Oh no? So what you gonna do about it?" the sailor asked.

"I'll fight you instead," said Archie in a tone that suggested he was eager for a scrap. Maxie shook his head and groaned softly.

"Oh please, Arceus, no. Don't let me be saved by Archie!"

The sailor made to swing a punch at Archie and he stepped back to get his balance. He trod on the Corphish from before and it was furious! It leapt up and pinched his ass as hard as it could.

The sailor screamed in pain; the Corphish was now *really* mad and wouldn't let go for toffee. He ran through the water, trying to dislodge it but was unable to shake the Pokemon off. Archie roared with laughter and this set Maxie and Courtney off too. Eventually, by the time he had reached the far end of Slateport Beach, the Corphish finally gave up and dropped off.

"What a good job I found your glasses, Maxie," Courtney said. "You were able to see him get embarrassed right into the distance".

"Awwww, I really fancied a scrap with him," Archie said, with an exaggerated sigh.