As promised, here's the next chapter one day later. As a warning, it's probably going to be pretty short, since I don't have much plans for it. But I'll try to make it as good as possible. I know I could've had them all leave Laverre at the end of the previous chapter, but I wanted an excuse to write more Skyblueshipping, since it's really fun to develop. Anyway, enjoy.
Chapter 58:
Battle with Feelings
Zoey and Miette return to the group to rapturous applause. Dawn runs forward and hugs Zoey tightly, lifting her up and spinning her around as she does so, and completely ignoring Zoey's repeated protests of, "But I only came in second!" "That doesn't matter," Dawn replies. "You still did amazingly!" Miette is greeted in a much less enthusiastic way by Paul, who tells her she deserved the win, and even giving her a small hug. It's a small gesture, but it's enough to make Miette go red in the face. It's clear as day that this small hug from Paul is worth a lot more to her than the Princess Key.
Zoey, being the good sportswoman that she is, offered to take everyone out for food in the city to celebrate Miette's win. Everyone agrees to this wholeheartedly, however Miette insists that she be the one to pay for the meal, since she has the most money out of all of them. Both Zoey and Paul try to argue against this, but Miette insists, so they give up and allow her to pick the place. "Anyway, this shouldn't just be about me," Miette tells them. "Bonnie won against Valerie two days ago, so surely we should celebrate that too?" Bonnie shakes her head. "Max and I haven't really celebrated my other wins," she tells her. "And anyway, I had to take two tries to beat her. Hardly something worth celebrating." Miette tries to insist upon it, But Bonnie flatly refuses, saying that this should just be about Miette, and no one else. Miette eventually relents, and brings them to the best restaurant she knows in Laverre. Being the avid lover of food that he is, Max has to agree with her that this is possibly the best place he's eaten at since he 1st arrived in Kalos.
They end up returning to the hotel rather late that night. Before parting ways and heading to their own rooms, Dawn conforms with all of them that it's their plan to head off the next day, and each of them going in their own directions. So, before they head to bed, Dawn proposes one last shopping trip together before they separate. Bonnie and Miette agree that this is a great idea, however Zoey and the boys are much less enthusiastic about it. "Don't worry, we won't make you carry our things or anything," Dawn reassures them. "I just think it's a nice way of hanging out one last time, that's all." Paul just rolls his eyes. "Thanks, but if I wanted a stint in the Mirror Realm I'd go home and spend time with my brother," he counters. "So, I think it'd be a better use of my time if I just have a battle with Max instead." "I second that!" says Max, quite quickly. "I'll referee for you!" Zoey adds immediately after. The other 3 girls look at each other, then shrug. "Alright," says Dawn. "If you don't want to come, then you can just do that I guess." With that settled, everyone separates and heads to bed.
The next day, as planned, once their breakfast is finished, they split into two groups. Bonnie, Miette and Dawn go into the large shopping mall in the city, while Max, Paul and Zoey wait outside and prepare to have a one-on-one battle. The three girls spend the next 2 hours browsing the various shops in the mall, buying any clothes that catch their eye that's within their price range. Dawn is a little disappointed she doesn't have Zoey with her to show the stuff she tries on off to before she buys them, but she knows that her girlfriend isn't a huge fan of shopping, so she isn't surprised she wanted to go and ref the boys' match over going on a shopping trip with 3 borderline shopaholics by the looks of it. So, she decides to just try on the clothes by herself, and if she likes them, she'll just by them (I'm getting bored just writing this lol).
Bonnie comes out of one of the shops to see Miette sitting on a seat, lost in thought. She sits next to her and taps her on the shoulder, causing Miette to snap back to reality. "oh, sorry," she says, sounding a bit startled. "I spaced out there." "I noticed," Bonnie replies. "What's on your mind?" Miette sighs and stares out towards the entrance to the mall. Outside, the pair can see their travel companions battling their hearts out. Max's Gallade vs Paul's Aggron, both Mega Evolved. Dawn comes out of the shop she was in and sees that the pair re staring out at the battle, at least, the amount that they can see of it. She sits down on the other side of Miette to where Bonnie sits, and her gaze swaps between Miette's face and the battle outside. A knowing grin spreads across her face, and Bonnie is quick to follow suit, knowing where Dawn's train of thought is going.
"Boy troubles?" Dawn asks. Miette snaps her head over to meet Dawn's eyes, her face going redder than humanly possible. "H-h-how could you tell?" she asks, stumbling over her words. "Because I had a similar problem to you," Dawn tells her. "Whether I liked it or not, and as much as I tried to deny it to myself, I was enchanted by Zoey. Seeing her perform in contests and work with her pokémon made me swoon so easily. And I can clearly see you're going through something similar." Miette looks away from her companions, still blushing. "You're right," she admits. "I can't help but swoon, as you put it, whenever I see Paul battle. The way he analyses everything, and seemingly has total control over the battle is so enchanting!" As she says this, the group can see Gallade fly away, but just about manage to stay on his feet. Aggron meanwhile barely looks like it's broken a sweat.
"So why don't you tell him?" Bonnie asks. Miette goes redder, if that was at all possible, and shakes her head furiously. "I can't do that!" she cries. "What if he thinks that's the only reason I stuck with him and leaves me!?" Dawn chuckles at this. "I doubt something like this would make him leave you" Dawn tells her. "How do you know that?" Miette asks. Dawn grins. "Because I know Paul," she says. "I know that if he didn't like you, he wouldn't stick with you. He's willing to wait outside of a shop for you while you go shopping. That's not something he'd do even for Ash, and Ash is someone Paul respects. He at least likes you as a friend, if not more." Miette smiles at this. "Thanks for that," she tells them. "I'm still not confident about telling him, but at least I know he won't leave me on a whim I guess." Bonnie nods at this, and looks out at the battle. Dawn sees her staring and grins again. However, she decides not to comment on this one, figuring that Bonnie still hasn't quite worked her own feelings out yet.
Gallade and Aggron clash as their two most powerful moves are ordered. Despite how strong the moves are, they don't seem to do much. But in truth, both pokémon are tired out from the fierce battle. Paul has to admit, Max is clever, and Max has to admit that Paul is tactical. Gallade charges forward with Close Combat, and Aggron retaliates with Heavy Slam. Both attacks hit home, and severely weaken both pokémon. It's clear that both pokémon are on their last legs. So, both Max and Paul go for one last powerful strike, Gallade with Ariel Ace and Aggron with Iron Head. Both attacks clash in mid air, creating a small explosion. When the dust settles, both pokémon are standing there, panting heavily. Then, at the same time, both Mega Evolutions fade and both pokémon collapse.
"Both pokémon are unable to battle!" Zoey calls. "Meaning this match is a draw!" Both Max and Paul return their pokémon and thank them for a good battle. "Looks like I'm going to have to keep an eye out for Bonnie in future," he comments. "If someone like you is helping her out." Max blushes a bit, but shakes his head. "It's not just my strategies that are why she's so good," he tells him. "They give her a bit of help, but it's mostly thanks to her own skill." Paul smiles a bit at this. "I see," he says. "Then she must be a very skilled trainer." Max nods his head. "She's the best," he says. "She's going to destroy the competition in the League!" Zoey chuckles at this and steps forward. "Seems like you think very highly of her" says Zoey. Max nods at this, then realises what Zoey means by this. "As a friend!" he says, very quickly. "Nothing more!" Zoey chuckles at this, but doesn't push the matter.
Once they finish their battle, the three finish their battle, they wait around for the other three to come out of the shop. After what feels like hours to Max, but in reality it's only 10 minutes, they emerge from the shop. They show the others what they bought, and they tell them that they look good, to placate them and prevent them from going back in if nothing else. Once that's done, Max, Miette and Zoey pull out their maps and check where they need to go next. As it turns out, Paul only has one badge left to get, the badge from Snowbell. Zoey doesn't know where her next badge is, so she and Dawn are going to wander aimlessly together for a bit. As for Max and Bonnie, they're next destination is Anistar. This means that they're all going to be leaving the city in different ways. Because of this, they say goodbye to each other here, with Bonnie and Max wishing Zoey and Miette luck in the showcase and Paul with his final badge, and all of them wish Bonnie luck with her own badges, then they all go their separate ways.
I'm honestly surprised I managed to get this out today. Sorry I cut Max and Paul's battle short, but I had no idea what to do with it. I had fun with developing Miette and Paul's relationship a bit more. I was going to have Zoey comment on Paul's feelings for Miette, but I have a better idea for that, so I had her comment on Max's feelings instead. Well, now that I managed to get this right, the next chapter is coming out on Wednesday, and it's another chapter I've been looking forward to writing. See you then.