As a warning, the next 6 or so chapters are going to be pretty rubbish, because, I haven't got much of a plan for them. Had I not made the first half so long I could just gloss over them, but I can't, not without making the second half shorter than the first. So, here we are. Hopefully this next section doesn't turn you off from my story too much, and you'll still be here when it picks back up again. But for now, I'm sorry. Anyway, here's the latest.
Chapter 60:
Clinging to a Plan
It has now been a week since Max and Bonnie left Laverre. During this part of their journey, Bonnie occasionally shows Max some of the outfits she bought. Having long since learnt from May to just agree that whatever was bought looked good, Max praises her for her choice. But it's very clear he doesn't care, so Bonnie eventually stops asking him what he thinks. Instead, she spends her time training up her team for the next gym. She's definitely learned her lesson from what happened in Laverre, and is training her pokémon harder than ever. Max sometimes joins in on her training, when he's not documenting any pokémon he sees in his notebook or audio logs. Once again, the two are pretty evenly matched, often times coming out with a draw.
When they aren't sitting around training or documenting, the two are travelling. Bonnie often complains about just how much longer it's taking them to get around Kalos than it did when she and her brother travelled with Ash. Max often says that he and his sister took much less time as well when travelling with Ash around Hoenn. "Probably because that guy can't stay in one place for very long" Bonnie jokes, which causes the two to crack up. But even so, the fact that Ash managed to get around eight regions and become the Monarch all in one year was astounding. As Max liked to joke, "You'd swear he was stuck at the same age for like 8 years!"
At some point since their departure, the pair are walking through one of Kalos's many forests. As they do, Max speaks into a log about a group of poison types that he sees. But just then, they hear the sound of bushes right next to them rustling, and stop in their tracks. Max stops his recording and puts the log away, before turning to Bonnie. "Can you check to see if that's friendly or not?" he asks. Bonnie nods, but she's somewhat hesitant. In truth, she hasn't used that ability of hers since she learnt that it showed her her feelings for Max. But now, it seems she doesn't have a choice. So, after making damn sure that Max isn't in her peripheral vision, she turns her Aura Sight on to see who's there. "It's a person," she tells Max. "And they're friendly." Max sighs with relief and moves his hand away from his belt, where he's kept it hovering since he first heard the noise, in case it's something that could hurt them. "But who are they?" he asks.
The question barely leaves his lips when they find out who. Barry comes charging out of the bushes, pokéball in hand and shouting with determination. He hurls it at one of the poison types Max was documenting, but misses. The ball lands harmlessly in the grass, and the pokémon flee in fright. Barry swears loudly, then picks up the ball. He turns around to face the other two. "Sorry about that," he says. "I've been trying to catch those buggers for hours, so I've been growing impatient." As soon as he says this, he realises who he's talking to. "Oh, hey Max, hey Bonnie, it's been a while!" he says enthusiastically. The two wave back, glad to see him. Max is about to ask him where Lukas is, when they hear the sound of someone tiredly running over. "For Arceus's sake Barry!" Lukas shouts as he comes through the bushes. Once he reaches his friend, he slumps down with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "How many times do I have to tell you that you need to be patient!" Then, he locks eyes with two pairs of feet and looks up. "Oh, hello!" he says. "Haven't seen you in a while."
The four of them walk together for a little bit, with max and Bonnie catching the two boys up on what's happened since they parted ways in Coumarine. As it turns out, Lukas and Barry had heard about their run-in with Team Terra last month, and are quite relieved to see that they're ok. The news that Team Terra managed to steal the Jade Orb away spooks Lukas a bit, especially when max informs him that he's pretty sure Team Terra have captured Rayquaza. Eventually, they come to a tree that had been knocked over. Figuring it's a good place to stop and rest, they sit down on it and resume talking. "So what about you guys?" Max asks. "What are you two up to?" "We're on our way to Laverre to get my next badge," Barry explains, showing them his case. Like Bonnie, he's collected 6, with his most recent one being the one from Anistar. After Bonnie notices that he doesn't have Clemont's badge yet. "Yeah, I'm saving that one for last since the League matches themselves happen there," Barry explains. "So, all I've got left is the Fairy Badge, and I hear it's really hard."
Bonnie nods at this. "I failed my first attempt," she explains. "Had to spend half a day hunting for a Magneton in order to stand a chance against her." Lukas nods at this. "That's sort of similar to what Barry's doing," he explains. "He's trying to catch a poison type to help him stand a chance. Unfortunately Mr. Reckless over here forgot to buy any antidotes, so now most of his team is wiped out and the only one that isn't is badly hurt." Barry blushes at this and rubs the back of his head. "The nearest Pokémon Centre is about half a day's walk from here," Barry explains. "And I don't want to have to walk all the way down there just to heal my team up, then come all the way back here to hunt for poison types. Especially when we just left that Centre this morning!"
Lukas can't help but laugh at Barry's antics, which causes the blond to look away, flustered. "So, since this guy is far too stubborn to go back to the Pokémon Centre, I had to come up with a plan for how he'd catch a poison type without pokémon, as usual." Barry glared at him. "Hey, it's not my fault your strategies are so good!" Barry retorts, to which Lukas laughs. "My strategies aren't that great," he replies. "They just seem great to someone who's only plan is attack and hope the opponent misses." "Boy do I know how that feels" Max jokes. "Hey!" both Bonnie and Barry shout. "If I recall correctly, you left me in a huff in Laverre because I cockily said I wouldn't need your strategies," Bonnie points out. "So you shut the hell up!" Max has no retort for that, so he just childishly sticks his tongue out. "Back on topic," Lukas continues. "In order for him to catch a poison type without the use of his pokémon, I suggested that he tries to sneak up on some and throw an Ultra Ball at them when he gets close enough. The only problem with that is that Barry is far too loud and impatient for a plan like this." Barry goes a bit pink again.
"What if these poison types couldn't move?" Max suggests. "If we were to pin them in place, maybe then it'll work." Lukas shakes his head. "It would work in theory yes," he says. "But I've found that if you want to catch a pokémon who's at full health without battling it, you need to take them completely by surprise. Otherwise they'll just break out and try to attack you." "So, I've been trying to sneak up on poison types all morning," Barry explains. "But I keep growing impatient and running up to them, scaring them away of aggravating them." Bonnie can't help but laugh at this. "That sounds really frustrating to have to deal with" she says. "Oh, you have no idea!" Lukas says.
Max decides to help Lukas come up with a plan for how he can catch a poison type. While the two discuss this, Barry and Bonnie decide to have a one-on-one battle to pass the time. But then Barry sends out his weakened Empoleon, remembers why he's trying to catch a poison type without battling it, and calls the match off, cursing himself for being so forgetful. So, the two settle with just watching the brainiacs as they plan. Neither of them will admit it, but they would be perfectly content with watching them thinking and planning all day. Seeing Max's tongue protruding from his mouth whenever he's concentrating never fails to make Bonnie's heart flutter. And Barry could watch Lukas's brow furrow all day and never get bored. "Arceus I have it bad!" they both think.
Finally, Max and Lukas come up with an idea. They stand up, much to the disappointment of Bonnie and Barry, and lead the two of them back along the path to where those poison types were. Their plan was a very simple one, but ingenious. Barry would quietly approach the poison type he wants to catch, this time with one of Bonnie spare bandanas acting as a gag to prevent him from shouting. While he creeps along, Max, Bonnie and Lukas will release all of their pokémon and have them run around acting like wild ones in order to cover Barry's sound. That way, he can grow as impatient as he likes and will not be heard. When Max asks why Lukas didn't think of that before, Lukas lies and says that it didn't cross his mind, because he doesn't want to admit that he was too distracted by Barry to come up with a proper plan.
Now, as planned, Max, Bonnie and Lukas hide up in some trees, and one-by-one, they release all of their pokémon and instruct them to act like wild ones. Max decides to keep Treecko and Mightyena in their balls since they aren't from Kalos, and Lukas does the same with his Sinnoh natives. The sound of all of the pokémon confuses the poison type that Barry is targeting, a Crogunk. The Crogunk is obviously startled by all of the noise, but decides that it's not in any danger, so it stays where it is, eating berries from a bush. Just as Max and Lukas had predicted, Barry grows tired of the sneaking, and rushes forth, letting out a cry of victory as he bursts from the bush and hurls the Ultra Ball. Luckily for him, the bandana tied around his mouth prevents much of the sound from escaping, so Crogunk is unaware that he's there, until it's hit in the back by the ball. The Crogunk is sucked in, and captured.
Barry cheers with victory and runs over to Lukas's tree. When Lukas gets down, Barry picks him up in a tight hug and spins him around, thanking him for his help. Lukas is far too embarrassed to say anything, so he just lets his ecstatic friend continue to spin him around. Eventually, Barry puts Lukas down, suddenly very red in the face himself, then goes over and picks up the ball that Crogunk lives in. "You're going to make a great addition to my team!" he announces, before strapping the ball to his belt and heading off for Laverre. "Eh, Barry!" Lukas calls. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Barry turns and looks at Lukas with confusion. To help him remember, Lukas taps on his own pokéballs. Barry remembers that most of his team is down, and agrees to follow Max and Bonnie to the Centre before heading back to Laverre the next day. Lukas chuckles at Barry again. "Arceus, he's so adorable" he says to himself.
When Barry stops dead in his tracks and his face goes a very deep shade of red, Lukas realises with a horrible jolt that he'd said that out loud. Seizing the opportunity, Bonnie quickly grabs Max and tells him that she spotted a pokémon he'd been trying to finish an entry about. Of course Max immediately sees where she's going with this and plays along. The two run into the trees and climb up different ones, then listen in on the conversation. "Wh-wh-what was that?" Barry asks, clearly very flustered. "N-n-nothing," Lukas says quickly. "Absolutely nothing. I did not say anything!" Barry chuckles at this, and Max can see that he's grinning, despite how flustered he looks. "Really?" he asks. "Because I think I just heard you call me adorable." Lukas goes even redder and tries to deny it, but he's stuttering so much he can't get a word out. "I sure hope I heard you say that," Barry continues. "Because I think you are the cutest boy I ever met, and if that was just one-sided it'll make the rest of our journey very awkward."
Bonnie gasps at this and grabs at her mouth to avoid squealing. Barry had just confessed his feelings, and he couldn't go back now. Lukas stops stuttering, his mind buffering so much Max can almost see the buffering circle over his head. "Y-you do?" he finally stammers. Barry nods enthusiastically, suddenly looking a lot braver. "Of course I do!" he exclaims. "You are the smartest, most brilliant, most adorable person in the world and..." He falters here, swallows nervously, and forces the rest of the sentence out. "And I've been hopelessly crushing on you for ages." Time seems to stand still as Barry's confession floats in the air between the two boys. Eventually, Lukas smiles awkwardly. "I like you as well," he admits. "I think I have for ages, but I only really noticed in Coumarine." Barry laughs slightly at this. "Well better late than never I suppose."
The two of them stand there for a bit longer, before Lukas asks, "So, what does that make us now then?" Barry shrugs, looking at his feet bashfully. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" he asks. Lukas goes quite red, but nods his head. "Yes," he says, "I do." The two of them approach each other nervously, unsure what do do. Bonnie hopes they'll kiss, but instead they decide to hug. "Oh well," she thinks. "Baby steps." Both she and Max make their way down from the trees and loudly make their return, to give the two a chance to separate. None of them say anything on the way to the Pokémon Centre, but Bonie can't help but notice with glee that both Lukas and Barry are holding hands all the way there.
That confession scene wasn't originally planned to happen there. I was thinking of putting it much later on, but figured since I'm going to have so many pining lovers by the end of this volume, I may as well bring them together. I hope you liked that, because I'm quite proud of how I wrote it. But anyway, I don't have anything else to say here, so I shall see you all on Sunday with the next chapter.