I've got no idea if this chapter will come out on Thursday like I promised or not. As I write these opening Author's Notes, it's Thursday, but I may just stop and finish it on Friday, who's to say. I also amn't fully sure what this chapter will be like. I came up with this idea last minute because I was a bit stuck, but I think this'll be fun. It's been a hot minute since Max was in a pokémon battle in this story anyway, so I figured I may as well give him a friendly one. Enjoy.
Chapter40:
Friendly Departure
The next morning, everyone has met up again to eat breakfast together. Bonnie notices the way Lukas seems to awkwardly sit next to Barry, his posture almost bashful. She grins to herself as she realises that her matchmaking plan has worked. Dawn and Zoey notice Lukas's behaviour as well and chuckle to themselves, with Zoey shaking her head a bit in amusement. As everyone eats, they all discuss where they're going to be heading next. Goh and Chloe are heading over to Kalos Canyon, since Goh wants to give the sky battles a go. He'd heard from Ash that they're good fun. Tierno and Shauna are heading to Shalour so that Tierno can challenge the gym there, before they find out where Shauna's next contest is. The other four are going to Cyllage for the for the same reason as Tierno and Shauna are. Max and Bonnie are heading to Lumiose so Bonnie can challenge her brother. Neither of them tell this to the others, but they're also going there so Bonnie can learn more about her Aura.
Once they all finish eating breakfast, they pack up their things and begin heading to the routes they'd need to take. The first to leave their little party is Tierno and Shauna. Everyone stops to wish them well, and Bonnie lets Shauna know that she and Tierno look so cute together. Shauna thanks her and rubs her head affectionately. "So do you and Max," she comments. Bonnie goes bright red and goes to deny it, but Shauna starts laughing. "I know, I know, I'm only teasing" she says. Max luckily doesn't hear this, as he's too busy discussing pokémon with Lukas, who's keeping himself distracted with talking to Max so he doesn't focus too hard on the fact that he's been crushing on his best friend for a while and never realised it. The next to leave their group are Goh and Chloe, who part ways with them right outside the city. As they leave, Goh thanks Bonnie for telling him about the time Ash got sick, because now Ash can no longer tease him about him getting sick in the river.
At last, it's just The group who travelled to the Battle Chateau. As they walk, Max explains to them his plan to give the Jade Orb over to Professor Sycamore or Ash, which Lukas believes is a good idea. They seem to be heading the same way for a bit, before they come to a fork in the road. Both Lukas and Max check their maps, to see that both groups are going in opposite directions. So, they turn to each other, and wish each other well. But, before they can move on, Barry steps over to Max. "You know, I've been curious for a while about your skill in battle," he says. "We've seen and heard of your clever strategies, but we've yet to see you implement them yourself. So, how about you battle me before we part ways." He holds out a pokéball and wears a determined expression on his face. Max wears the same expression on his face and pulls out his own pokéball. "I accept!" he replies. Barry smiles and the two walk to the opposite ends of the path. Dawn volunteers as referee and stands between the two of them. Everyone else clears the way for them and forms a ring to watch the battle.
"This will be a three-on-three battle between Barry Jun and Max Maple!" Dawn announces. The battle will end when one side has no more pokémon left to battle. Both participants are allowed substitutes. Are you both ready?" Zoey can't help but laugh at her girlfriend's imitations of a proper league referee. Both Max and Barry nod, so Dawn sticks an arm up and shouts, "Then battle begin!" Barry immediately sends out his Empoleon, so Max counters with Treecko. Empoleon starts off with a massive Water Pulse, Which Treecko is able to dodge easily due to his smaller size. However, he's also a smaller size, meaning that Max has to be smart about this if he's going to win this battle. He orders Treecko to keep dodging while he thinks of a plan.
Eventually, he thinks of one. Luckily for him Treecko is able to keep dodging due to his size. Then at Max's words, he stops dodging and goes for a heavy vine whip. The vines strike Empoleon square in the face, dealing critical damage. While Empoleon staggers back from the super effective hit, Treecko runs forward and starts clambering up Empoleon's back. Once he's high enough, he starts using razor leaf over and over, essentially trapping Empoleon in a vortex of leaves. Empoleon tries to strike Treecko, but the wood gecko pokémon uses another vine whip to catapult himself off of the penguin. This causes Empoleon to fall to the ground. As it struggles to its feet, Treecko strikes it with a Giga Drain, which knocks Empoleon out.
"Empoleon is unable to battle!" Dawn declares. Barry returns Empoleon and thanks it, before smiling at Max. "Well now, it seems you really are a genius strategist," he says. "But that doesn't mean that you're going to win. I can still turn the tide. So let's go Hitmonlee!" Barry sends Hitmonlee out, who lets out a mighty roar and readies for combat. Max smiles, then returns Treecko, before sending out Pidgey. When Pidgey emerges from her ball, she first starts looking around for any snacks. Upon realising she'll be battling, she changes her stance, ready for combat. Hitmonlee starts off with a high jump kick, which Pidgey manages to avoid. Then, Pidgey whips around and blasts Hitmonlee with a powerful gust, knocking the fighting type off its feet. Before it can get back up, Pidgey swoops in with peck a few times, which angers Hitmonlee. It gets to its feet and starts kicking wildly, desperate to hit the bird. Max smirks at this, and his glasses reflect the light a bit. Bonnie smiles at this. "Looks like Barry has fallen into Max's trap" she comments. Before anyone can ask what she means, Max has Pidgey dive forward with a drill peck. Pidgey does so, using an opening created by Hitmonlee growing fatigued from kicking willy-nilly. Hitmonlee is knocked to the ground and Pidgey strikes it with a wing attack before it can get back up, knocking it out.
Dawn is about to declare Pidgey as the victor, the bird begins to glow brightly. Her wings extend and she gains more feathers along her head. Once the glowing stops, Max's Pidgey is now a Pidgeotto, who cries with victory. After a few seconds of staring, Dawn snaps back to reality and declares Pidgeotto the winner of that match. Barry grins at this. "Well now, let's see how you handle this!" Then, he sends out... a Heracross. Max's jaw drops at this, while Bonnie puts a hand to her mouth to hide her giggling. The other three just facepalm. Max keeps Pidgeotto in the battle, much to Barry's surprise. "You thought I was planning to swap, didn't you?" he asks. Barry goes a bit red and bashfully rubs the back of his head. "I did," he says. "But that doesn't mean I won't win, because I've got a trick up my sleeve!" Then, he raises his writs and taps a keystone on his wrist, which causes Heracross to Mega Evolve. Max gets a bit nervous at this. Although he has the type advantage, he's never fought a Mega before. But still, he's determined to win, so he refocuses himself.
Heracross begins with a Bullet Seed, which Pidgeotto manages to avoid. Then she goes in for another drill peck, which strikes Heracross in its antenna. Heracross is thrown to the ground by the attack, but is able to get up in time to strike Pidgeotto with Arm Thrust. Unfortunately for Barry, this Arm Thrust doesn't do too much damage, and Pidgeotto is able to hit Heracross with Air Slash , once again throwing Heracross to the ground. Heracross goes to use another move, but before it can, Pidgeotto slams it with gust over and over again, until it's finally knocked out.
"Heracross is unable to battle!" Dawn declares. "Making Max the winner of this battle!" Max runs over to his new Pidgeotto and hugs her tightly, before pulling out a bag of berries for her. Pidgeotto caws happily before stuffing her face with them. Max chuckles, glad to see that evolution hasn't changed her gluttonous attitude. Suddenly he's tackled from behind by Bonnie, who pulls him into a congratulatory hug. Barry returns his Heracross and thanks it. Then he points at Max, smiling widely. "You really do live up to all that hype!" he announces. "Your strategies were something else!" Max chuckles at that. "Well in fairness, it's also because of the fact that you kept using pokémon with a type disadvantage" Max replies.
Barry chuckles a bit at this, his cheeks going a bit red. Lukas walks over nervously and offers to heal Barry's pokémon, telling him he did really well despite the disadvantage he had. Both of them are rather bashful, yet aren't aware of the other's nervousness. Bonnie has to resist the urge to push their heads together and demand they kiss. Little does she know that both Dawn and Zoey have the same urge to do with her and Max as well as the two boys. Once they're finished, they wish each other well, with Lukas wishing them luck in giving the Jade Orb over to Professor Sycamore and/or Ash, then, the two groups parted ways.
I don't know which country you're reading this from, but I only just managed to finish this chapter before it became Friday. It's literally 11:15 pm for me right now. But anyway, I had fun writing that battle, especially since that was the first proper one I've given Max since the Battle Chateau (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). It was fun to write if nothing else. I'm sure you're also wondering why it's taking Treecko and Fennekin so long to evolve, and the answer for that is I have a specific moment planned for when that will happen, so bear with me for this. But anyway, I'll see you on Saturday for the next chapter.