Musical rehearsals have started again! You know what that means: I won't have a lot of time to write between now and March. I'll still try to get some in, of course. Also, happy birthday Taylor Swift!

Random notes aside, I had the greatest time writing this chapter, you don't even know! I don't even want to keep you any longer, just- just read it!

Bonnie had just gotten off the video phone with Clemont in Snowpoint City's Pokémon Center when she heard an unfortunately familiar voice behind her. "Oh. You're here."

She turned towards the source of the voice, a boy her age, with a scowl on her lips. Without looking, she knew that on the shoulder of her coat Dedenne was wearing the exact opposite expression. For reasons unknown to her, her small orange pokémon friend seemed to like her biggest rival. "I could say the same to you," she threw back, crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out.

"What are we, five?" he scoffed, rolling his dark brown eyes behind his glasses. "Aren't we more mature than that?"

"You tell me, Max." Ever since they had met in Canalave City at the very start of their journeys- that was where the boat from Coumarine City had taken her- they had been at odds with each other over every matter that arose. What had started off as a difference in opinion about training styles had soon escalated into Max calling her immature and her retorting with the fact that he was a know-it-all.

Max opened his mouth to retaliate but thought better of it, sighing lightly in resignation. "Look, my sister keeps calling me trying to convince me to stop fighting with you, even if it's for a little while." He snorted at the thought. "I tried bringing up the fact that she never really stopped competing with her rival, Drew, but she had too many examples against my case. I think we should just get this over with, if only to make her stop nagging me. So, truce?"

She searched his face, contemplating his offer. Truth be told, Serena had been getting on her case for the same reason for... oh, a month or so, even though the performer was still in Hoenn. Bonnie never really talked to Clemont about this rivalry, though. In fact, she didn't even know how Serena knew about it.

"I have hot chocolate we can share," he offered, interrupting her thoughts.

That convinced her. If there was any way to convince her to agree to something, it was by offering her sugar. "Fine. Only for a little while, though."

"Naturally." The young trainers found a table to sit at, and Max started rummaging through his backpack while Bonnie settled in. "Are you staying in Snowpoint City for a while, then?"

She nodded, watching as he extracted a thermos and two foam cups from his backpack. Her presence in Snowpoint City was for the same reason as Canalave City, Oreburgh City, and Eterna City. "Yeah, I'm going to challenge Candice for my fourth badge sometime this week. She's an ice-type leader, right?"

"That would make sense. It's why I'm here, too." Steam spilled over the top of the thermos as he uncapped it, and they both breathed in the sweet scent of the hot chocolate. He poured some of the liquid into a cup, handing it to her before pouring more for himself. "It's still hot, so you should wait a minute," he advised before recapping the thermos.

"Thank you." She blew on the drink lightly, creating ripples in the surface. Not heeding the warning, she took a sip, the burning liquid slipping down her throat. "Wow, you weren't kidding." His reaction was another roll of his eyes and an I-told-you-so look. Dedenne hopped down from her shoulder, curling up on the table next to the warm thermos. "Hey, Max, I never thought to ask before. Are you from around here?"

Max shook his head, blowing on his cup as well. "No, I'm from Petalburg City in Hoenn. And I'm assuming you're not from Sinnoh, either?"

"Nu-uh. I'm from Lumiose City in Kalos. My brother's the gym leader there, too," she boasted with pride. Clemont had been running the gym since they had returned from their journey with Ash and Serena, and still managed to find time for his inventions.

His eyebrows raised in slight surprise. "You're related to a gym leader, too? My dad's the Petalburg City gym leader. I came to Sinnoh first so that my dad will see how much I've improved on my own. Getting stronger and improving is why Kirlia and I started our journey in the first place," he stated, referencing his evolved starter.

"That's... actually why I came here, too." It was ironic, really, that the two of them were in Sinnoh for the exact same reason. "I went on a journey through Kalos with my brother and two of our friends last year, and I didn't want them to compare me to one of our friends just yet. I also want to get a whole lot stronger so I can beat my brother on my first try!" While she was still excited at the prospect of winning a gym badge from her brother, she tilted her head at Max's odd expression. "What?"

"That sounds kind of familiar..." he thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I've got it! One of your friends was named Serena, right? And she's a coordinator?"

Now it was Bonnie's turn to be surprised. "Yeah, she wanted to go to Hoenn to be a coordinator so she could eventually become the Kalos Queen. How did you know that?"

"My sister's been telling me about her. You see, May is a coordinator, too, so she must've met Serena somewhere along the way since she's trying for the Hoenn Grand Festival again."

The pieces clicked together in her mind. "That must be why she's been trying to get me to stop fighting with you! She must've heard about our rivalry from May then, because I never mentioned it to her."

Max groaned, closing his eyes for a minute. "They're probably trying to set us up, too." Anytime they were arguing in public, there was always at least one person who deemed it a "lover's quarrel," much to their annoyance. "We need to put a stop to this."

"I know exactly how!" She leaned over the table, prompting him to do the same. "Okay, so Serena really really likes our friend Ash-"

"Wait." He held up a hand to cut her off. "Not Ash Ketchum? May and I traveled with him and our friend Brock a few years back."

Her mouth fell open a bit. "Um, yeah, Ash Ketchum. Jeez, many regions did he travel?" She shook her head, getting back on track. "Anyways, she has the biggest crush on him. She already told him, and even kissed him, but I have so many embarrassing stories to tell him about her! So if you can find out who your sister likes-"

"Then we can blackmail them into not setting us up anymore," Max concluded with a smirk. "That's perfect! I already know how to contact May's crush, anyway." His smile softened a touch. "We make a pretty good team, actually."

Bonnie laughed for a minute. "Who would've thought? How about we're more friendly rivals from now on, then?"

"That can be arranged." Both of them picked up their drinks, now cooled enough so as to not burn their mouths. Their new friendship had only just begun...

X-X-X

A few days (and set-up attempts) later...

"So if you don't stop trying to set us up, I'm telling Ash about some stories your mom told us when we saw her that one time," Bonnie started over the videophone. "I think he'll love the one about you trying on makeup when you were seven."

Serena's face flared up a nice shade of pink with embarrassment and she subconsciously touched the ribbon on her chest. "You wouldn't-"

"She would," Max interrupted, flashing the older girls a mischievous grin akin to Bonnie's. "And May, I have so much that I could tell Drew right now..."

May glared at her brother. "Come on, Max, I don't like him like that."

He laughed at her statement. "I think the voicemails on our home phone would beg to differ." His sister sputtered, her face the same shade as Serena's.

Said girl held up her hands in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll stop, but Bonnie, you had better not tell Ash about that story!"

Bonnie nodded in agreement. "Deal. Now, May, I think it's your turn."

The two coordinators seemed to have a silent argument on the other side of the screen. Finally, May broke their gaze. "Fine," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "I'll stop, too."

"Thank you. Talk to you later!" Bonnie and Max hung up on the others, snickering and celebrating with a high-five. This was going to turn out to be a wonderful friendship.

Because there's no way they wouldn't be competitive early on and you can fight me if you think May and Serena wouldn't try to set them up. Especially Serena, as payback for Bonnie's little hints at her crush on Ash. Oh yeah, and I also dumped the headcanon on you that they wouldn't start their journey in their home region. I just think that they would want to get stronger first before challenging their home region's gyms, especially since they both have a relative as a gym leader. It just makes sense to me.

One other thing- I haven't really watched a lot of the advance gen seasons (yet), so I apologize if Max and/or May is out of character.

So next time we have a shippy HeartSoul chapter! Making our way back to the gameverse, which means more of my PC personalities~

Thank you to MondaysAreBoring for following and favoriting, and everyone else for reading!