Advanced Generation: Max's Adventure!
Chapter 21: A Clean Slate… Ever Grande Conference, Pt. Four!
Disclaimer:I do not own and am not affiliated with the Pokémon anime, the Pokémon Company, or Nintendo in any way shape or form.
Max entered the arena. His battle against Dylan was beginning! Max knew he could take him. After all, he did defeat Colby! The ref called out the rules. The battle started!
"I choose you, Flareon!" Dylan said. Max didn't know that Dylan's Eevee evolved! Max sent out Tentacruel for the type advantage.
Flareon started things with a skull bash attack. Tentacruel used hydro pump, but Flareon effortlessly dodged and used swift. Tentacruel was about to use takedown, but Flareon used baby-doll eyes to make it back off. Tentacruel used poison sting, and Flareon dodged.
"Dylan's Pokémon are amazing. Max is going to have to try really hard to win!" May said, concerned.
Flareon used growl, and Tentacruel used hydro pump. To get the energy it lost back, Flareon used refresh. Flareon used charm, and Tentacruel started backing off from attacking. Flareon used fire fang and then smog. Tentacruel couldn't see because of the smog. Flareon jumped from behind it and used lava plume. Tentacruel was about to use hydro pump, but it lost focus and stopped after Flareon used confide. Flareon finished it off with skull bash.
"I choose you, Gligar!" Max yelled. Dylan substituted Flareon for Cacnea.
Cacnea used sandstorm. Gligar couldn't see, and Cacnea used pin missile on it. The sandstorm calmed, and Cacnea used poison sting. Gligar used harden to protect itself, and then used dark pulse. Cacnea dodged and used needle arm and finished it with drain punch.
"Go! Magcargo!" Max said.
"I'll substitute Cradily for Cacnea!" Dylan said.
Cradily started with an energy ball, but Magcargo used iron defense. Cradily then used brine, which really hurt it. Magcargo used flamethrower. Cradily used acid and then brine again. Magcargo was knocked out. Max sent out his Gardevoir. Dylan substituted out his Swellow.
Gardevoir kept using teleport, but Swellow was able to use agility to keep up with it and use air slash. Gardevoir used a powerful psychic to nearly defeat Swellow. Gardevoir tried to defeat Swellow with a fire punch attack, but Swellow used endure to stay in the battle. Swellow used roost and then brave bird, defeating Gardevoir. Dylan returned Swellow and then sent out Glameow.
"I choose Sceptile!" Max yelled.
Sceptile used energy ball, and Glameow destroyed the ball with slash and then used shadow claw on Sceptile. Sceptile used dragon claw. Glameow bounced out of the way with its tail and used attract. Sceptile was infatuated.
Glameow used hidden power and then thunderbolt. Sceptile snapped out of his infatuation and used leaf blade. Glameow easily dodged and used assist. The assist turned into secret power, which paralyzed Sceptile. Glameow finished him with quick attack. Max sent out Swalot. Dylan returned Glameow and sent out Torterra.
"Max barely landed a hit on Dylan! He still has all of his Pokémon in perfect condition. Swalot would have to pull of a miracle to win this." Grace said. Suddenly, a few familiar faces sat next to May and Grace.
Swalot used stockpile two times. Torterra used iron head. Swalot used spit up, but it hardly affected Torterra. Torterra used frenzy plant, badly hurting Swalot. Swalot used gastro acid. Torterra used stockpile and then paralyzed Swalot with secret power. Torterra finished Swalot with spit up.
"Swalot is unable to battle! Dylan will proceed to the next round." The ref called. Max returned Swalot and walked away.
He walked into the trainers' lounge and saw Grace, May, Caroline, Oak, and Birch. Max fell into his mother's arms, sobbing. May left back to Unova the next day.
Over the next three days, Max watched Dylan make his way to the top. He even got to see his Ambipom, Jigglypuff, Tropius, and Dusclops battle. Finally, Dylan won the entire competition. Dylan approached Max after the awards ceremony. Max got a top-8 plaque.
"Max, are you going to come to the Elite Four Stadium to watch my battles against the Elite Four next week?" Dylan asked.
"No, sorry. I have to go back home." Max responded. Dylan and Max said their goodbyes. Max, Grace, Caroline, Oak, and Birch entered a ferry.
At three in the morning, Oak woke Max up. They walked on to the deck. Oak had all sorts of equipment pointing towards the sky. Birch was looking at one of the screens and Grace was looking up at the sky.
"The reason we came, other than to watch you, was to see the Mirage Spots. Mirage Spots are a strange phenomenon that happens around this time of year in Hoenn. The conditions are perfect for them to happen just about now, so expect to see some Spots and maybe even a legendary Pokémon or two!" Oak said.
Max and Grace looked into the sky. Suddenly, two large portals opened. Max couldn't believe what he was seeing. Four Pokémon emerged from the spots and started flying around. Even Max couldn't identify them, so he had to pull out his Pokédex to scan them.
"Palkia, the Spatial Pokémon. A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that space becomes more stable with Palkia's every breath."
"Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon. A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that time flows when Dialga's heart beats."
"Zekrom, the Deep Black Pokémon. Concealing itself in lightning clouds, it flies throughout the Unova region. It creates electricity in its tail."
"Reshiram, the Vast White Pokémon. This legendary Pokémon can scorch the world with fire. It helps those who want to build a world of truth."
The Pokémon flew high into the air. Reshiram blew out blue flames and Dialga sent out a green dragon breath attack. They weren't attacking each other. They were simply sending out their attacks to communicate. None of them seemed to notice the boat below.
"They are so beautiful!" Grace said.
"Yeah…" Max whispered, awestruck.
"We are analyzing their behavior right now. This information will give us a great insight into the lives of these Pokémon as well as the mysteries of Mirage Spots." Oak said.
"We think that Mirage Spots happen after the legendary Pokémon do something to disrupt the special makeup of the area that they are in and this brings them to Hoenn temporarily. We don't know if this hypothesis is correct and we may never know." Birch said.
The four Pokémon soon returned into the Mirage Spots. The spots closed. Max and Grace couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, as they were so fascinated by what happened.
In two days, the group arrived in Littleroot Town. Caroline went ahead to Petalburg, but Grace and Max decided to stay in Littleroot for the day. They entered the lab. Birch and Oak immediately started analyzing their findings. Max and Grace soon saw Dawn.
"Hey guys! I heard that you got top-8, Max. Good job!" Dawn yelled.
Dawn led Max and Grace to the area where Birch kept Pokémon. Grace ran to her little Wynaut. Max saw Colby's Garchomp, Cloyster, and Swampert, all of which greeted him warmly. Colby's Ursaring ignored him, his Starmie was indifferent, and his Raticate was aggressive towards him. Torkoal and Shiftry were too busy playing. Garchomp followed Max. He didn't realize what a sweet Pokémon she was!
"Dawn, can you please send my Wynaut over to Prof. Elm? I kind of want him in my home region!" Grace asked. Dawn went and did that.
After doing that, Max, Grace, and Dawn sat down over a small lunch.
"Dawn, you and my sister are going to Sinnoh after she gets back from Unova, right?" Max asked.
"Yeah, but that won't be for over a month and a half." Dawn said.
"Well, I don't know about Grace, but I want to come!" Max said.
"Okay!" Dawn said.
"I can come, too! I know Cierra is headed there soon. I want to beat her again!" Grace laughed.
"But, that's in a long time. What will you two do until then?" Dawn asked.
"I was thinking that we could go to Johto and I could compete in the Battle Frontier." Max said.
"That sounds great! Can we go to my house to see my family before then, though?" Grace asked. Max agreed.
Soon, Max went to the phone to call Tracey. He asked Tracey to send over his Snorunt in exchange for his Tentacruel. Oak arranged tickets to the port at Cherrygrove City, leaving in two days. Max and Grace went to Petalburg to see Max's family. Norman was proud of his son.
Max walked to his room and put his Badge Case on display on his dresser. He hung the top-8 plaque on his wall. He and Grace went to the greenhouse. Max sent out his Snorunt, who got scared and jumped into Grace's arms.
"I guess it likes me!" Grace laughed. Snorunt used leer at Max when he tried to walk close to him. Max returned the small Pokémon.
The next day, they walked to the ferry in Littleroot Town. They boarded the ferry to Cherrygrove. Max's Snorunt was tight in Grace's arms. Whenever Max even tried to walk near it, it would use leer and then powder snow.
It took almost five days, but they made it to Cherrygrove City! Max ran out into the fresh air. Grace was so excited to be home.
They walked to the outskirts of the town where there were large fields of wildflowers were. Grace spotted her house; it was a medium-sized house with a beautiful garden in the front. She ran to it and Max struggled after her. She pulled a silver key out of her bag and opened the door.
"Hi everyone!" Grace yelled. She didn't see anyone.
Everything inside was a mess. It looked as if the family was attacked. Suddenly, Grace screamed. Max looked to see a certain Dark-type Pokémon sitting on the toppled-over couch.