Sorry that this is being updated on a Wednesday instead of Tuesday, but I was doing a lot of travelling yesterday, so I didn't have a lot of time to update this fic. This is also going to be a bit messy as well, since I haven't quite got the full thing fleshed out, and will probably end up making the latter half of this chapter up as I go. But anyway, enjoy.
CHAPTER 42:
Monarch on a Mission
2 weeks earlier:
Ash arrived back in Vaniville Town nearly 2 days after he, Looker, Hilda, and Hilbert searched the abandoned Team Terra base. Serena was ecstatic to see him, leaping into his arms immediately. Ash happily returned the hug and kiss she gave him, before leading her inside and shutting the door, making sure they couldn't be overheard. Once he was sure, he suddenly became quite serious. "Do you know where Max and Bonnie are?" he asked her. Serena shook her head, suddenly nervous. "They called me about 2 weeks ago wondering where you were," she replied. "By then they were in Lumiose, and I think their plan was to go to Coumarine next, but I've got no idea where they are now. Why?" Ash considered lying to her, but decided against the idea. "They were attacked 2 days ago by Team Terra," he explained. Then he went on to explain how he knew this, and everything he and the others discovered in the cave.
When he finished, Serena looked very shocked by this. "So, in short," Ash finished, "sorry I can't stay with you longer, but I need to go and find them and take the Jade Orb from them, before they get into any more trouble." Serena's face hardened at this. "Of course," she said. "But it's getting dark now, so how about we wait until tomorrow." Ash nodded, since he was rather tired. But then he registered something Serena had said. "Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?" he asked. Serena sighed. "It's obvious isn't it?" she exclaimed. "I'm coming with you!" Ash wanted to protest, but Serena beat him to it. "I'm not just going to sit here while my boyfriend goes running all over Kalos to fight an eco-terrorist organisation to save our mutual friends. I'm going with you, and that's final!" Ash sighed. He knew there was a reason he fell in love with this girl. "Alright fine," he said. "We'll leave first thing in the morning." Serena nodded, then she ordered a pizza for the two of them.
True to his word, Ash waited for Serena to be ready the following morning before setting off in search of Max and Bonnie. Once she was, the two of them raced to Lumiose as fast as they could, hoping to be able to speak with Clemont about Max and Bonnie's whereabouts. However, what they weren't expecting is to see was Korrina skating around with Clemont as he left the Lumiose Gym. "Hey Clemont, hey Korrina!" Serena called out as they approached. The two of them looked over at to see who was calling them, and beamed when they saw Ash and Serena approach them. "Hey guys!" Clemont called. "Wasn't expecting to see you back so soon Ash. Brilliant match as always by the way." Ash thanked him, then asked when the last time either of them saw Max or Bonnie was. This makes both Clemont and Korrina rather nervous, Clemont more so. "About two weeks ago, why?" he replied. Ash hesitated, then explained to him what happened to the pair a few days prior, as well as what happened in the cave, and why he needs them.
At this, Clemont goes as white as a sheet. "What!?" he demanded, suddenly very scared. "That's why we're trying to find them!" Serena explained. "We need to take that Orb from Max before they get hurt, or Team Terra steals it." Clemont started thinking hard about this. Then he ran back into the Gym. He returned carrying his Aipom Arms on his back. He'd recently upgraded the bag to now contain 4 arms, with all of them being a lot longer then before. When he'd demonstrated their new abilities to Ash and Serena, Ash had exclaimed that they made him look a bit like Dr. Octillery from Spinarak-man. "I just tasked Clembot with running the Gym for a while," he explained. "I'm coming with you to find my sister!" Before Ash could say anything, Korrina said she'd be coming too and called her grandfather to explain the situation. Ash decided it was best not to argue, and agreed to let them join him and Serena. Then, they headed off to Coumarine.
Racing through the Badlands was a lot harder than they first thought. Because of how hot and dry the place was, they ended up tiring themselves out a lot faster. Luckily for them, thanks to Ash's Aura, he was able to find a few water sources under the sand. After a few days of travelling, including the day spent in the Badlands, they reached Coumarine. Unfortunately for them, Max and Bonnie weren't there. Clemont and Korrina spoke with Ramos to see if he already challenged her, but he hadn't yet. Now, Clemont was getting really worried. They sat around in a café, thinking up their next move. "Maybe we should wait here until they show up?" Ash suggested. Clemont shot that down immediately. "What if they're attacked on the way here?" he asked. "We'd be too late by then." They were getting really desperate to find the two. Clemont pulled out his phone and checked through the map for another route. "There's a mountain pass between here and Lumiose," he explained. "I bet Bonnie took that to avoid the Badlands." "Smart girl" said Korrina, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow at the thought of the Badlands heat.
So with that in mind, they paid for their drinks and set off for that pass. By the time they reached it, Max and Bonnie had arrived in Coumarine, unbeknownst to any of them. They searched high and low along the pass for any sign of them. They found the sign of a struggle in the form of multiple parts where the gravel seemed to have been pushed around. There were some burns along the side of the mountain. At first, Clemont was terrified that they were too late, but Ash used his Aura to determine what happened. "They were attacked here by two Team Terra agents," he said. "But they managed to get away. Anyway, this happened before the fight in the cave, so we've gone too far." Seeing Ash do this gave Serena an idea. "Wait, why can't you use your Aura to find them?" she asked. Ash sighed somewhat sadly. "Because I can't sense Aura like that," he explained. "I can tell people's Aura apart when they're up close, but far away, she and Max could be two pokémon for all I know."
They retraced their steps, following a different route this time, and following it more carefully. Clemont started calling Bonnie's name as loud as he could as they walked. They hadn't been doing that before since they were worried they'd attract the attention of Team Terra. But now, those worries were out the window, as their little group was growing desperate. Eventually, they made it back to Coumarine again, once again having not seen hide nor hair of either of them. Clemont and Korrina once again went up to ask Ramos if he battled Bonnie, and this time he said that he had. Just a few days prior in fact. Once they found this out, they realised that they missed them. Ash and Serena asked around town and found out which way Max and Bonnie had gone. Once they learned that they had decided to go through the Badlands, Korrina groaned loudly at having to go through them again. But they all ran of in that direction nonetheless, hoping to catch up to the two before anything bad happened to them.
After yet more time travelling through the Badlands and the forests and paths beyond, they arrive in another town. This one also has a few people who saw Max and Bonnie. The proprietor of a shop that sells evolutionary items tells them about how the two of them saved his shop by getting the van that was stuck in the Badlands. Apparently, they had left two days prior, and are currently heading to Lumiose. They thank the man and run off towards Lumiose as fast as they can. But they're unable to catch up with them before night falls. Clemont wants to keep going despite the darkness, but Korrina manages to talk him out of that idea. "If we do continue, we won't be able to see much," she argues. "Then for all we know, Max and Bonnie could be in danger and we'll have no clue where they are or how to find them." Clemont relents to this argument, and agrees to wait until the morning to resume their search. But as they're going to bed, Ash can hear Clemont grumble to himself, "That boy promised me that he and Bonnie would be safe. He'd better keep that promise."
The next morning, the four of them eat a small breakfast as quick as possible to keep their strength, then they pack everything away as fast as possible and take off quickly. Surprisingly, Clemont is able to keep up with them. Ash remembers how slow he used to be on their original journey across Kalos together. Ash is glad that he's able to keep up right now, despite how exhausted he looks from trying, because it means they have a much better chance of finding them than they would've had had Clemont been as slow as usual. Perhaps the thought of his little sister being hurt is enough fuel to keep him going. Ash's train of thought was suddenly interrupted, as the extremely loud sound of an explosion reaches their ears. Ash immediately turns on his Aura and scans the area where the explosion happened. "Dialga on a stick!" he cries out. "I sense Max and Bonnie over there!" Without another word, they take off in that direction.
As they run towards Max and Bonnie, they can hear several more explosions and the sounds of fighting coming from all around them. Ash keeps his Aura trained on Max and Bonnie's, so that he doesn't lose sight of them. Eventually, the sounds of fighting dims, before finally stopping. Serena is about to ask what happened, when they hear the buzzing sound of electricity coming from Max and Bonnie's direction. There's more of this buzzing sound as the four of them get closer. The sounds of fighting resumes not long after, but this time it's concentrated on this one area. The group picks up their pace, hoping to reach Max and Bonnie and help them before it's too late. But just as they're about to reach them, a powerful gust of wind knocks them all backwards. Serena gets to her feet first, then looks up and cries out in alarm. Everyone else follows her gaze and sees a giant flying object taking off into the air. Once it's gone, the four of them run over to the spot where it had taken off from. Once they reached it, Serena gasped, Clemont cried out, and Korrina was in shock. Ash felt a bit of guilt coursing through him, as what they saw horrified even him.
Boom, annoying cliff-hanger! If you want to find out what happened to them, you're going to have to wait until Friday. The reason being that I probably won't have enough time to update this while I'm on holiday, so I'm going to wait until I return hoe on Friday to update this. I'll still be uploading the chapter after the next one on Saturday, but I will be putting a delay on the next one by a day. Sorry about that, especially since there's this cliff-hanger, but I'll see you all on Friday!