Chapter 7: In Hot Water

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Max yawned and silenced the alarm clock on his bedside counter. The time was 7:00 AM. In order to be as efficient a Pokémon trainer/coordinator as possible, his daily schedule demanded that he rise early in the mornings. So far, he had adjusted to being on the road again.

A second, muffled beeping originated his pack. Max hurried to open the pack and find the offending object. It was his pokénav. Apparently, he'd forgotten to turn the alarm feature off last night, as there was already an alarm clock in the room. Just as well – in the wilderness, the pokénav was the only way of knowing what time it was.

Max walked up to the window and opened the curtains. The sun was beginning to rise on the eastern horizon. Max had come a ways since leaving home a few days ago. Late yesterday morning, he'd arrived in Rustboro City, his first stop after traversing the wilderness outside of Petalburg. Yesterday was full of activity, and today promised to be no different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but an uneasiness hung on the air. But he was safe – he'd spent the night in the Pokémon center, which was constantly under the watchful eye of Nurse Joy and her Blissey. Still…

As Max fished around in his pack for his clothes and prepared to find the showering area, his hand knocked against something. Grabbing the hard object, he took it out, instantly realizing what it was. It was his multi-compartment case, used for storing both badges and ribbons. So far, he had no ribbons, but something was in there.

It was yesterday afternoon that Max took what courage he could to enter the Rustboro gym. The leader, Roxanne, recognized him after a few moments, and knowing him for what he now was, they had a Pokémon battle. Max was nervous; he only had his Mudkip to rely on, and he was rather inexperienced at battling, despite having watched several battles involving Ash and May. But he could feel Ash's confidence within him, as well as his sister's support and Brock's…imaginary presence. Not only that, but his Mudkip had a type advantage – the two Pokémon Roxanne used were both rock types, so they went down as Mudkip's strength was beginning to fail.

Max stared in admiration of his newly acquired Stone Badge. It sat alone in the case, but wouldn't be lonely for too long. Through the grapevine, Max became aware of a contest going on here in Rustboro later this morning, and he figured he'd give it a shot before heading out of town.

The center was quiet as Max ate breakfast in the cafeteria, then went back to his room to get things ready for the day. He decided to do some more training with Mudkip – the contest wasn't until noonish, so that gave him a few hours to explore the surrounding terrain. If he got lucky, he might even be able to add a new member to his team. With high hopes, Max headed into the tall grass around the city limits.

For the first few minutes, all was quiet. The area was almost devoid of life. Soon, though, a metallic noise echoed through the quiet air. Max followed the noise, wondering what was causing the ruckus. It didn't take him long to find the source.

At the foot of a tree stood something that looked like a metallic leg of some sort. At its top was a rounded apparatus, at the center of which appeared to be a single red eye. Max knew what this was – a Beldum. Most likely, there'd be a swarm around here, or else this one's been through something awful. Moving slowly so as not to frighten the metallic Pokémon, Max approached it.

As he came near it, Max knew now that this was a loner Beldum. It appeared upset at being abandoned by its own kind. It had had a fight with its leader, a powerful Metang, and was banished from the coven. So it came to be here to weep.

Max was sympathetic towards the creature. He had learned from Ash to read Pokémon's emotions, as well as know what was being said. He and Mudkip comforted the Iron Ball Pokémon.

The steel/psychic type knew about Max. Like itself, Max was traveling alone, albeit for different reasons. Nonetheless, Beldum was drawn to this strange human and his unfamiliar partner. So when Max said he had to leave to get back to town before the contest, it followed him. As soon as he became aware of something following him, Max turned around. He could guess the Pokémon's intentions. It wanted to come along with them. So in the flick of a wrist, Max threw an empty pokéball at the Beldum, who was captured without resistance.

Happy with the morning's results, and especially ecstatic at making a new friend, Max returned to Rustboro City and entered the contest hall, where he promptly signed up as a contestant. In the few minutes he had before the competitions got underway, Max reflected upon his previous journey through the Hoenn region. That was a couple months ago that he, Ash, May, and Brock finished their tour and went to Kanto for the Battle Frontier. There were ups and downs, nothing they couldn't handle as a group. He sighed. Where were they all now?

Before he could ponder anymore on the deeds of the past, the announcer signaled the beginning process of the Rustboro City Pokémon contest. Crossing his fingers and hoping his team would bring him to success, he headed towards the area designated for coordinators.

Upon exiting the contest hall, Max looked up at the sky. He could tell just by looking at where the sun was what time it was. Because it was mid-afternoon, he had two choices. He could either stay in town for one more night, or he could get a head start on his journey and put several miles behind him before sundown. After pondering this choice a moment, Max decided it wouldn't hurt to stay in town one more night. Afternoon was seldom a good time to begin traveling, especially if the destination is a long ways off. Yep, he was definitely going to stay one more night.

Max took his storage case out of his pack and opened it. By sheer luck, and some skill he acquired the previous day, Max was one of two winners. He fought in only one battle (a two-on-two battle), facing off against an opponent's Poochyena and Zigzagoon. Mudkip did particularly well, and Beldum's sheer force was undeniable (although its capabilities were severely limited – it only knew take down). Max placed the ribbon in a separate compartment from where he would keep his badges. He wondered if May would be jealous.

Max returned to the Pokémon center to heal his partners and take a snooze. His day was not yet done, but already had been more exhilarating than usual. As he lay on the couch, he wondered what lay ahead.

His musings were cut short by shrieking outside. He got up and went to the door with an equally curious Nurse Joy. Stepping outside, they found the source of the problem. From the end of town where Max entered the previous day, a large group of men in red cloaks advanced into the city. Their Pokémon marched ahead of them, threatening anyone unlucky enough to stand in their way. From the town's second main gate, a group comprised mostly of women dressed in sailors' clothes marched behind their line of aquatic Pokémon.

Nurse Joy suddenly spoke up.

"Max, let me run inside and get your Pokémon to you. I think you'll have to leave town. It's Teams Aqua and Magma, and I'll bet it'll be unsafe for you here very soon. Run as fast as you can. Flee!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Max shrieked as the nurse handed his pokéballs to him. Grabbing everything he possessed, he made a mad dash for the town's third and last entryway. Nobody was in that direction…yet. He'd have to run, or there'd be guards there soon as well.

Max dashed through the city gate and ran until the city was far behind him. By now, the sun was beginning to burn the sky bright orange. Evening would be here soon. Still, Max pressed on, knowing he wouldn't be safe until nightfall. He'd find somewhere to rest before then.

Still, he couldn't shake off the terror he'd just escaped. What were those guys up to? I thought we'd taught them a lesson a while back. Is this happening elsewhere in Hoenn? Questions raced through his mind. He thought of Professor Birch and his father. He wasn't too worried about them. The professor was a wise man, and had gotten out of many scrapes before. And Norman, his father, had so strong a team that he could easily hold his own against any challenger. Er…ALMOST any challenger! Max's thoughts now were focused on his friends and family. He hoped nothing was happening to them.

The next couple hours down the road were quiet. It was almost as if the world saw a great disaster coming. To Max, it was simply because he was the only person in this neck of the woods for miles around. He continued on until the daylight began to fail.

Max set up his sleeping bag out on the grass a short distance from the path. Unfortunately, the situation in town was such that he could not follow through with his original plan. That was beside the point, he reasoned, as there was no telling what would've happened to him if he'd been caught.

Dinner was an almost nonexistent affair. A small bag of potato chips, half a sandwhich, and a bottle of mineral water was all he had to go on for tonight. There was a little more in his pack, of course, but he knew he had to ration his food while on the road. Brock taught him that. Not that it mattered with Ash and May in tow – those two had bottomless stomachs! He sighed again. He couldn't stop thinking about them.

By the time he was done eating, the sun was gone, and the twilight of dusk was hardly enough to see anything in. Max took off his glasses and carefully set them in his pack. He then set his alarm for the usual wake-up time: 7:00 AM. He was tired, and soon fell asleep.

A sound of footsteps and chatter woke Max. He guessed he'd been asleep for only a few minutes. He wasn't sure, though, so he got into his pack to check his pokénav. It was currently 10:17 PM. Before he could put it away, two tall figures appeared along the road. They held lanterns – that was all Max could discern, as his vision was poor without his glasses. He stayed quiet and listened to the conversation the people were having. They were close enough to him to be within earshot.

"So the city of Rustboro has fallen already? Excellent. The masters' plan is coming together perfectly. Word on the street is, the same thing is happening in Kanto, the Sevii Islands, Sinnoh, and Johto." a man's voice said.

"Sweet! I can't wait to take up the gauntlet of authority!" a feminine voice replied.

Max fidgeted in his seat. He knew there was a reason he was thinking of everybody.

"Ash, May, where are you guys?" Max asked out loud. Realizing his error, he hoped the people on the road hadn't heard anything. Unfortunately, they did.

"Hey, did you hear something?" the man asked.

"I do believe I did! It came from this side of the road. Can't be more than twenty yards off. Let's check it out," the woman commanded.

Max knew by their footsteps that they were closing in on him. He'd have to grab his stuff and run fast, or they'd find him. He'd hardly gotten out of his sleeping bag, however, when the duo came to his position. Max got into his pack quickly enough to put on his glasses and see the intruders to his campsite.

One was a tall man, with short green hair and a menacing expression on his face. He wore a silvery outfit that covered all parts of his body except his head. The woman was a few inches shorter than the man, but otherwise appeared almost identical to her accomplice. They stopped when Max came into view. To them, they beheld a small boy standing over a sleeping bag and look disheveled. Clearly, they'd caught him at a bad time. For him, anyways.

"Well, well, well. What have we here, Simon?" the woman asked.

"I don't know, Simone, what do we have here?" the man called Simon asked, more to Max than to Simone.

Max was too scared stiff to say anything. His only thought now was on the pokéballs resting on his belt. Maybe he could fight his way out…that is, if he weren't so scared stiff.

"Simon, didn't the boss tell us to bring him anybody we found outside of any towns if we found them?" Simone asked her partner.

"Indeed. Come along now, little straggler." Simon cooed.

"S-S-Straggler?" Max asked. He didn't know what was happening. It was all too much, too fast.

Simone faced the youth with an unnerving smile. "Oh, you know…anybody that we find that isn't in any town. Just like you."

Simon whipped out handcuffs from one of his pants pockets. "You're coming with us. And don't bother trying to fight with us, because that'll just make things more difficult for you."

Simon handcuffed Max and took him back to the road. Looking back, Max saw Simone gathering his belongings. He knew he was going to be taken somewhere, but where?

"Hurry it up, Simone! We gotta get this kid to the boss, pronto!"

"I'm on it, just give me a second!" Simone whined. She placed Max's sleeping bag hastily in his pack and scurried with it towards the group.

"We've a long way to go, kid, so try and stay awake if you can."

Max was groggy and tired, but also too scared now to feel sleepy. His adrenaline was pumping through his veins. His hands were bound behind his back. At least he could feel that his Pokémon were still on him. That was a good thing, at least until they confiscated them. Max thought he heard Simon mutter something about how "the boss just HAD to be situated in Viridian." He almost inquired about Viridian, but thought better of speaking out loud. That's what got him into this mess in the first place.

Fear gripped Max as he and his captors began their trek back to Rustboro to report their findings before heading to the nearest port. He cried silently as they journeyed off into the darkness of the night.