At last, we have finally reach Coumarine. Which means no more random Team Terra chapters for a bit. I had some fun coming up with ideas for this part of the story, so hopefully they actually turn out alright. Because this will probably end up like the Shalour part, a good idea, poor execution. But we'll see how this turns out. Enjoy.
CHAPTER 35:
Coumarine Catch-up.
Max has to lean on Bonnie's shoulder for most of the journey to Coumarine. Unfortunately for him, they've run out of burn heals, but luckily Coumarine has finally come into view. "Well, it's about damn time!" Bonnie complains as she guides Max over to the city. Taking it all in, Max is astonished by the place, in particular the huge monorail that stretched the length of the city. They also see flags and balloons dotted around the place as they walk in. This gets Bonnie very excited. "Oh my Arceus Max, you have no idea how suddenly glad I am at how slow it is to travel with you!" she exclaims. Max laughs at this, then thinks about what she had just said. "Ok, you need to explain that, or I'll take that as an insult" he replies. Bonnie apologises for her wording, then explains.
"We arrived just in time for the Annual Coumarine City Festival," she explains. "It takes place at night, and we all go to the Pledging Tree and give presents to each other and our pokémon, and there's fireworks!" All of her excitement starts to rub off on Max. "Sounds awesome," he says. "When is it?" Bonnie stops being giddy to think about that. Then she shrugs. Max is about to suggest that they go and ask someone, when they hear a familiar voice call out to them. "It's happening in two days' time!" said the person. "So, contain your excitement and come over to say hi will you! We've been waving for the past two minutes!"
Max and Bonnie spin around to see Dawn, Zoey, Lukas, and Barry sitting outside of a café, with Dawn and the two boys waving them over. Dawn also has a Piplup sitting on her lap. Max and Bonnie wave back, then the two walk over to them, with Max wincing slightly because of his burn. The two sat down and Lukas immediately stood up to fetch them something to eat, once again ignoring their protests. While he's gone, Bonnie leans over to Barry eagerly. "So, did you ask him out yet?" she asks quietly. Barry goes red in the face while Dawn and Zoey burst out laughing.
"Sorry about her," says Max, laughing himself. "She recently managed to matchmake her brother with someone he's been pining after for a while now, so she feels like she's on a role. More importantly, does any of you have any burn heals?" Barry nods and pulls one out. He hands it over to Max, who thanks him before raising his t-shirt and applying it to his burn. Everyone at the table looks at his burn with shock. "Dialga on a stick!" Zoey exclaims. "What happened to you?" Once Max gets the stinging under control, he explains his and Bonnie's most recent encounter with Team Terra.
"Ugh, them again?" Dawn asks, rolling her eyes. "And here I thought Team Rocket was annoyingly persistent." Max smiles at that comment. He rolls down his t-shirt and puts the burn heal into his bag. While he does this, Bonnie looks at Zoey eagerly. "So, did you do the showcase yet?" she asks her. Zoey shakes her head. "That's not until tomorrow," she replies. "Barry just finished having his gym battle against Ramos, so we're here celebrating his success." Barry stands up proudly and shows off his Plant Badge. "He was amazing, you should've seen him!" Lukas exclaims, returning with lunch for Max and Bonnie. Barry goes red at this and sits back down.
As everyone eats their food, they all spend time catching up on the things that happened since the incident at the Battle Chateau. Apparently, after the four of them parted ways with Max, Bonnie, and Korrina, they headed off for Coumarine, but stopped off at Lumiose so Dawn could make a transfer. As it turns out, the Empoleon she used against Team Terra and in the Battle Chateau wasn't hers. She borrowed him from the Sinnoh Professor because her Piplup had hurt his wing a few days before they all left for Kalos. So, she left him with her mother while he healed, and now he's back with her once again, and the Empoleon was returned to Rowan. It was only when she finished her explanation that Max notices that Piplup is wearing a necklace. Upon closer inspection, he realises that it's an Everstone.
Dawn notices Max's gaze wander to the Everstone and chuckles. "Piplup doesn't want to evolve," she explains. "But a few years ago, he started beginning the transformation without him wanting to. So, to help him I got him and Everstone, so he doesn't have to struggle against his evolution anymore." Piplup squeaks proudly and puffs his chest out, making everyone laugh. Zoey rubs his head affectionately, and he squeaks with delight. Dawn laughs at this. "Aw, looks like he finally accepts you, love" she says, which makes Zoey giggle and pick Piplup up to hug him, ignoring his cries of protest. Upon seeing the look of confusion on Max and Bonnie's faces, Dawn explains, "When we first started dating, Piplup was very protective of me. He didn't want me going out with someone who could end up breaking my heart and would make sure that Zoey is aware of this. But now, it seems like he finally sees that she would never hurt me."
Once the four of them had caught Max and Bonnie up on their goings-on, the duo recounted their journey across Kalos, with Bonnie proudly explaining how she managed to finally find Clemont a girlfriend. "Now all you need to do is find yourself a boyfriend" Barry comments. His eyes unmistakably dart to Max at this. Bonnie goes red in the face at the suggestion, but luckily for her, Max isn't paying attention. He's staring at some of the pokémon running around the streets, and doesn't hear Barry's comment, much to Bonnie's relief. Barry looks a bit annoyed by a lack of reaction and tries to comment that again, but Lukas blocks his mouth with his hands. "Don't do that," he says. "That's not fair." He lets go of Barry, and unknowingly causing him to blush madly.
They continue to chat for a bit more time, then Zoey says she'd like to return to their hotel and prepare for the showcase tomorrow. Dawn decides to go with her, so Bonnie decides she wants to head over to the gym. "Only problem is," she says, "I can't really remember how to get there." "I know where it is," says Barry, standing up quickly. "I can take you there!" Bonnie thanks him and smirks to herself. Max sees what she's planning and decides to lend a hand. "Hey Lukas, why don't you come too?" he asks. "I've got more notes on pokémon that I think will interest you." Lukas shrugs and agrees to come too. As the four of them leave Dawn and Zoey behind, Max can swear he saw Dawn mouth, "Thank you", before walking back to their hotel room with Zoey.
Yeah, that was a rather short chapter, sorry about that. But I hadn't had much of a plan for this one and didn't want to make it too big and undo the average I finally managed to return. But next chapter, I'm bringing in a couple that I'm quite nervous about writing for. You'll see who I mean and what I mean next week. For now, sorry again for how short these past few chapters have been, but I promise they will pick back up in size again. See you all next week.