Johto Battle Frontier: Max's Adventure!
Chapter 7: Goodbyes to the Old, Hello to the New
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 and Grace arrived in Cherrygrove City. They walked into Grace's house.
"I can't wait to head to Sinnoh!" Grace exclaimed as she walked inside.
"Hey Grace, I caught a Rattata!" her brother Joey exclaimed.
Her entire family was there, including her great-grandparents. She walked to her great-grandmother.
"Granny, why are you here?" she asked.
"Well, your great-grandfather wants to speak to you." Her granny said. She turned to her grandfather while Max sat down and talked to her parents about the Battle Frontier.
"Grace, you have become a great caretaker of Pokémon. I want you to work at the Day Care instead of pursuing this silly coordinator stuff." Her great-grandfather said.
"What? I am about to go to Sinnoh! I can't!" Grace yelled.
"Now, Grace, don't disrespect me! You will start working with us immediately, okay? You will not go to Sinnoh." Her grandfather snapped. Grace started tearing up.
"Sir, if I may interrupt, I think Grace is an amazing coordinator! You shouldn't pin her down like this." Max said.
"I think its best if you go!" her grandfather yelled at him. Max picked up his stuff and walked out.
Grace's entire family felt bad for both Grace and Max. They all approved of her becoming a coordinator, but nobody ever questioned her great-grandfather.
Max made it to New Bark Town, and suddenly Grace ran over to him.
"I am leaving to Eggseter tomorrow. I just wanted to say goodbye." Grace said. She obviously had been crying.
They talked and went over to Elm's lab.
"Grace, you have a Meganium, right? And Max, you have a Sceptile?" Elm asked.
"Yes. Why?" Grace asked.
"I am doing a research project on fully evolved Grass-types. Could I possibly use your Pokémon in the project?"
Max and Grace looked at each other. They agreed. Max became extremely upset. They both said goodbye to their starters and walked away. Max started crying. Grace gave him a hug.
"Max, I know it's hard. We have been travelling together for so long. And our starter Pokémon… well I guess that is temporary. The research can't take forever." Grace said.
"But your grandfather won't change his mind." Max said. Grace nodded. Soon, the ferry to Littleroot Town came.
"Goodbye." Max said sadly.
"Goodbye." Grace said.
Max arrived in Hoenn two days later. He went to Petalburg City with the giant trophy in his hands. After walking up to his room and meeting with Gardevoir, he put the trophy next to his Hoenn badge display and hung the Portfolio on the wall next to his Petalburg Tournament plaque and the Ever Grande Conference placement. After walking out of the room, he passed May's room and saw May and Dawn in there with another girl.
"Hi guys. May, how did you do in the Grand Festival?" Max asked, still sad.
"I only made the top-8. Where's Grace?" May asked. Max explained what happened. Dawn and May were sad to hear that. "I got her special Seals from Unova… I guess I will just save them."
"This is May's friend from Unova, Jayla. She is coming to Unova to do contests." Dawn said. Max introduced himself.
The group all went to Littleroot Town. They went to Birch's lab.
"So, I am getting all of my Unova Pokémon sent here. I only have six right now… Birch will be receiving more. Want to see?" Jayla asked
"Yeah!" Dawn said. Max was very interested to see what she had.
Jayla sent out a Pignite, a male Frillish, a summer form Deerling, a Vanillite, a Solosis, and an Accelgor. Soon her other Pokémon arrived: Ferrothorn, Pansear, and Cottonee. The Unova Pokémon amazed Max. Dawn revealed that she currently only had Piplup with her.
"Jayla, I was working here while waiting for May, so all of my Pokémon are here right now. Want to meet them?" Dawn asked. Jayla agreed.
Dawn's Buneary, Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Quilava, and Togekiss all came out of the forest after Dawn blew a whistle. Max walked inside the lab and sent out Gligar, Swalot, Surskit, and Claydol.
"Guys, I have decided that I'm only going to take Murkrow to Sinnoh, in honor of Grace. So you all are going to be sent to Kanto to live at Oak's." Max told them. He said his goodbyes to each of them, but Gligar grabbed onto his neck and wouldn't let go!
Swalot, Surskit, and Claydol were sent away, but Gligar would not go! Finally, Max agreed to take Gligar with him. May ran into the lab.
"Max! The ferry to Sandgem is coming in five minutes! Come on." May yelled.
Max ran to the ferry and boarded it. He was excited for the coming challenges, but he wasn't excited that he would be overcoming them alone.
After arriving in Sandgem Town a couple of days later, Jayla and May both left, but Dawn decided to go to Twinleaf Town to visit her mother. Max wanted to go with her. After a while, they eventually made it to the house and Max met Johanna and her Glameow. Max remembered Dylan's Glameow. Max was going to stay in Twinleaf for a while, and then start his journey later on.
Grace made it to Eggseter the day after Max left. She was extremely upset that she was there. She spent the day cleaning up after the Pokémon. She had thought about running away to go to Sinnoh. One night, she was staring out her window when her granny walked over to her.
"You are young. Go! Go to Sinnoh. I can deal with your grandfather!" her granny said. Grace smiled and hugged her.
"Thank you so much!" she said as she cried.
Grace decided to take Dustox, Seaking, Wynaut, Snorunt, and Chingling with her. She ran out of the house in the middle of the night and dashed away. She pinned her Cascade Badge back on her chest after she changed back into her travelling clothes at a local restaurant's bathroom. Grace reached Ecruteak late the next day and took a shuttle to Goldenrod City. Grace got on the bullet train to Vermilion City and finally got a ferry to Sandgem Town. She was so excited to see everyone she knew!
