That morning was awfully slow, and it felt like time was slowed down as the grunts of Team Magma made their way towards the Magma Auditorium. Tabitha and Courtney stood waiting on the stage, both checking their watches. "Where is Maxie? The whole team is almost here!" The worried man bit his lip, looking through the curtains to see the audience. "I'm not sure. He never- n-never oversleeps. Camerupt was sick or something last night, I guess." Courtney said, pulling her sleeve back over her watch and peeking out behind Tabitha. The entire team had arrived, waiting patiently for their boss to appear to present his speech. But, it had been over 20 minutes, and Maxie had not arrived. Tabitha was biting his lip so hard that it was turning purple. "Tabby, stop. You're gonna burst it!" Courtney pried his mouth open in order to move his teeth away. "I can't help it! It's a habit!" He exclaimed, stomping his feet. "Ugh, They're getting restless . . ." Courtney said, looking out at the audience again. "We gotta- gotta go out there. Maxie always told me that if he was ever late to a meeting to stall the grunts and keep them occupied. L-let's go." Courtney stepped out before Tabitha could object, as the crowd quieted down as soon as she did. "Good Morning, grunts of Team Magma!" She greeted, nodding. The grunts did the Team Magma salute in unison and sat down. "Our great Maxie is running late, so- so I will read the current complaints as we wait." Courtney reached inside a metal box, pulling out a small piece of paper. She scowled as she read the first one, and quickly showed Tabitha. He scowled furiously stepped up to the stand and grabbed the microphone. "Whoever wrote 'Tabitha should lose weight. He looks like a Muk.'; Hahaha. YOU'RE NOT FUNNY!" He slammed the microphone down onto the stand, causing a loud feedback sound. The grunts covered their ears as it rang throughout the speakers. Tabitha ran back into the curtains, steaming. Courtney quickly grabbed the microphone and breathed into it, testing to see if it still worked. "Okay, I will remind you all once again that the complaints are for the community, not the team. I will find out who wrote that, and they will be fired. I hope you're proud of yourself." She brought up some papers and began to read them.
The sunlight peeked through Maxie's bedroom window, hitting his eyes. They scowled, and he groaned as he slowly pulled himself up out of bed. He slid his glasses off his dresser and into his hand, putting them on. He left his bedroom and walked into his kitchen, feeling sluggish. He poured some into a small glass and drank from it. He looked to his wall clock, which read 10:30 am, spitting some of his milk out of his mouth. He quickly gulped down the rest and exclaimed "The meeting! Sweet lord, I overslept!"
He ran into his bedroom and pulled off his pajamas, trying to quickly put on his outfit. He brushed his hair, his teeth in a quick manner. He checked himself in the mirror real quick, then ran into his Pokemon's room. "Everyone wake up! We are very, very late!" He yelled, trying to wake up his exhausted pets. They groaned, slowly getting onto their feet. "Come on, Come on!" He said, smoothing out his outfit's wrinkles as his pets went into their pokéballs. He picked them all up, and set them onto his belt. "Good boys! Very good boys!" He said, running out of his office and out the door.
Zangoose and Seviper peeped out of the closet, slowly stepping out. They looked around,walking into the kitchen and finding a bag of Poképuffs. They slowly ate them, savouring the first meal they've had in days. "Will your father find us?" Seviper asked, breaking the silence between them. "I don't think so. We are miles away from our hordes. We will be long gone by the time they pick up our scent here." Zangoose looked at Seviper, cupping her cheek. "You know that I would give my life for you, correct?" He asked truthfully, gazing into her eyes. "Yes, of course. I would do the exact same thing." She said, curling around his torso. They shared a small kiss, and returned to the room.
Maxie sped down the hallway, praying that he would make it on time. He quickly opened the door to the back of the stage, running in. He approached Tabitha, whose eyes looked red. "A-are you okay, Tabitha?" He asked, reaching a hand out to him. "I-I'm fine. Boss, you should get out there. You're very late." Tabitha wiped his left eyes, and practically started to push Maxie onto the stage. "Okay, okay! I'm going, Tabby!" He said, awkwardly moving through the curtains and onto the stage. Courtney respectively moved out of the way and he took the pillar, picking up the paper and skimming over the words. "Okay, good morning everyone. I am so sorry that am I late, I absolutely promise that it will not happen again. Now, Courtney, what have you gone over in my absence?" She whispered in his ear, telling him about all of the announcements she made. "Oh great, I get the worse one." He mumbled, turning back to the audience. "Alright, unfortunately, we are not any closer to finding Groudon or the Red Orb. We have found some materials, which will be useful later in finding the correct cave. I believe that we are right on the edge of finding the Red Orb, finding Groudon will soon follow. I believe in us, and we will, and I repeat, will crush Team Aqua and their silly pursuit to expand the sea!" The crowd cheered, and Maxie smiled in his victory to win over the crowd.
Courtney went back stage to check on Tabitha. As she looked around for him, she heard what sounded like gagging from the bathroom. She slowly walked towards it, hearing Tabitha cough and breathe harshly. Then the gagging resumed, as she gripped the knob. She pulled the door open, witnessing Tabitha shove his fingers into his mouth and coughing. A bit of vomit flowed down his hand, as the rest made it into the bowl. Courtney's eyes widened, as Tabitha coughed more and gripped the bowl. "W-Wha-What are you doing?" She said, quietly in disbelief. Tabitha slowly turned to face her, tears streaming down his face and his bottom lip quivering. "W-wh-why?" That was all she could ask, staring at him as tears threatened to flow from her eyes. Tabitha looked away, trying to find a good reason but he couldn't. He couldn't find a good reason to steer her away from what she was thinking. From what she knew. "I-I . . ." He felt like he couldn't speak, his throat was burning. Another stream of tears fell from his eyes. "I-I'm fat . . ." He said, those words being the only ones he could he could mutter. "C-come on." Courtney walked towards him, picking him up. "You need some water. It'll- It'll rehydrate you." They walked out of the bathroom, Tabitha covering his eyes as he sobbed. Courtney lead him to her room, sitting themselves down and giving him a glass of water to drink. He drank it slowly, trying to soothe the pain in his throat. He set the glass down and looked at the floor in shame, he didn't want to look at her. Not after what she just saw him do. Courtney lunged at him, pulling him into a hug. It was a few moments before Tabitha started to cry again, wrapping his arms around her small frame. She felt his body shake with every sob his produced, she felt his sadness. "It's okay," She whispered, trying to soothe him, but it only made him sob louder. Tears streamed down her face, as she gripped him tightly. "It's gonna be okay," Her voice started to falter, as they sat there and hugged, sobbing into each other's clothes.
