I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Sorry that I had to take the week off from writing this, but I needed to in order to get this part of the story straightened out. I need to include 4 gyms, introduce 17 more characters, and write this arc's finale, all within 44 chapters! SO yeah, I needed time to plan that out. I've also decided to give these arcs names, something I forgot to say in the last chapter. The arc you just read is called the Jade Orb Arc, and the one you're about to read is the Sky Serpent Arc (name subject to change). But yeah, because I have so much that I need to bring in, the travelling between cities will be a lot shorter, since Team Terra will not be chasing them anymore. But anyway, I've kept you all waiting for long enough, here's the newest chapter.

Chapter 45:

End of the Journey!?

When Max regains consciousness, the first thing he notices is that he's lying on something soft. His memory of before he fell unconscious is hazy, but he remembers it was terrible. For a split second, he believes that the horrible nightmare he just experienced was just that, a nightmare. But then he realises that what he's lying on is too soft to be his sleeping bag and ground mat. It almost feels like he's lying on a bed. That's when the memories come back to him with a horrible lurch, and he shoots up, fully awake. He looks around, and realises that he's in a room he doesn't recognise. It doesn't help that he isn't wearing his glasses, since they broke. But before he can start squinting to try to see better, he hears a voice call out to him. "Oh good, you're awake!" Max spins around, and spots the blurry shape of a person sitting or standing close by. Squinting slightly, Max can see that they're holding out a new pair of glasses. Thanking them, Max takes the pair and puts them on, finally being able to see Ash Ketchum sitting there, staring at him. "Ash!" Max exclaims. He tries to move over to him, but he suddenly realises just how heavy his body feels. Ash stands up quickly and forces him back into the bed. "Stay," he says firmly. "You are in no shape to be moving around."

Max lays back down on the bed, wincing slightly as he does. "Where am I?" he asks. "You're in a Pokémon Centre in Lumiose," Ash explains. "Me, Serena, Clemont, and Korrina brought you here after we found you in the forest. Now answer my question; What the Mirror World happened to you and Bonnie?!" Max sighs, then explains what Team Terra did, and how he lost the Jade Orb. That's when the true gravity of the situation hits him, and he sits up again. "The Jade Orb!" he shouts. "Ash, Team Terra have the Jade Orb! They're going to do something with it, I don't know what! But we have to stop them!" Ash shushes him and lays him back down in the bed. "I know," he says. "And I know what they want with it. They want to use it to summon Rayquaza to the Embedded Tower. But don't worry, Officer Looker has Interpol agents stationed all over the Tower, they won't get in their without a fight."

This does nothing to relieve Max's worry. "No it won't!" he replies. "Team Terra's Admins have special gloves! Gloves that allow them to do things like Fire and Thunder Punch! Maybe even Drain Punch but I amn't certain of that one!" This causes some worry to flash across Ash's face, but it's gone as quickly as it comes. "I'm sure the Interpol Agents will be fine," he reassures Max. "They're well trained. Besides, I know what you're doing! You're trying to shift all of the blame onto yourself. I know this because I do this as well. Well, I'm here to tell you that none of this is your fault." "Yes it is!" Max shouts. "I should've defended the Orb better! I should've kept it hidden! I should never have picked it up!" Ash shakes his head. "That's not true and you know it!" he replies. "You and Bonnie kept it away from them for 6 months by yourselves! And they were bound to find it anyway, it's just lucky that I got to see it first, because now we have a chance to stop them. And if you hadn't, they probably would've found it long before now. You did good Max. No one your age could've kept The Jade Orb from them for as long as you did."

Max looks away from Ash at this. "You could've" he argues. Ash chuckles at this. "Maybe now I could've," he says, activating an Aura Sphere in his hands. "But certainly not when I was 10. I could barely keep Pikachu away from Team Rocket half the time." This makes Max laugh, and manages to calm him down. But then he realises something else and sits up once more. "What about Bonnie!?" he asks. "Is she alright?" Ash smiles and nods his head. "She's fine," he replies. "She woke up just before you did. I'm sure Clemont is with her right now, telling her what I'm telling you. But now, I think you've talked for long enough. You need to rest a bit more in order to regain your strength." Max wants to protest, but his body still feels heavy, so he nods his head and lies back down. He figures that he may as well rest a bit more while it's quiet, then go and see Bonnie. Ash leaves the room, presumably to go and check on Bonnie, leaving Max alone in the silent room.

But at that moment, the silence is disrupted by the door slamming open once more. Max barely has time to sit up to see who it is, when he hears a voice that fills him with dread. "MAX MAPLE! WHAT IN ARCEUS'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING!?" Max shoots up and looks at the door. There, standing at the door with a look of fear, relief, and anger mixed in on her face is probably the only person in the world who can convey all 3 emotions at once and the last person Max wants to see while he's like this; his older sister May. Ash follows her in, trying to quieten her down and shooting an apologetic look to Max. "You called my sister!?" Max demanded. "Don't get angry at Ash for this Max!" May roars at him. "What was he supposed to do? You were unconscious for 3 days!" Max's jaw drops. "I was?" he asks, to which May nods. "Yes you were!" she replies. "What possessed you to pick up that green ball? Have you completely forgotten what happened during our journey through Hoenn!?" Max shakes his head, and tries his best to explain what came over him when he took it. Then he has another worrying thought. "You didn't tell mum or dad did you?" he asks. May shakes her head. "Oh Arceus no!" she replies. "Mum would've had a heart attack, and dad would've probably had you airlifted back to Hoenn while you were still unconscious." Max can't help but laugh at this, because she's right.

May looks like she wants to go on another rant about how reckless Max was, but before she does, someone comes in and puts a hand on her shoulder. After a few seconds of staring, Max realises that it's Drew. "That's enough May," he tells her. "I think he gets the point." Max gives May a look, which makes her go red, not only from embarrassment, but also anger. "Do not start that right now Max!" she snapped at him. "You do not get the right to do that after you scared me nearly half to death!" Max realises she has a point and apologises, then looks away. After a bit more time just sitting there, Max decides he's had enough resting and gets off the bed. Ignoring everyone's cries of protest, he grabs the came he spots lying by his bed and starts walking out of the room. "I need to see Bonnie," he tells them. "I want to apologise for everything that happened." Ash wants to argue that he doesn't need to since it wasn't his fault, but realises there's no point. "I'll take you to her room," he says. "But first, let me give you a hand." Then, he places his hands on Max's legs and makes them glow blue. After a few seconds, Max realises that his legs no longer hurt. "Was that Aura?" he asks. Ash nods. Max thanks him, then follows after him as he leads him to where Bonnie is resting.

When Max arrives at Bonnie's room, he's immediately ravaged by guilt once again. Clemont, Korrina, and Meyer are in there with her, obviously still very relieved that she's ok. Not wanting to interrupt, Max tries to sneak away, but Bonnie notices him. "Max!" she calls. "You're awake! Thank Arceus!" All eyes of the Citron family are now on him, and Max feels guilt course through him once more. Meyer stands up to walk over to him, but Clemont stops him. "Let me speak with him," he tells his father. "You stay with Bonnie." Meyer gives Max a look that worries him, but nods his head and goes back to Bonnie's bedside, allowing Clemont to take Max out of the room. "I'm glad to see you're alright," he says to him after closing the door. "You two were in pretty bad shape when we found you." Max nods, not wanting to look Clemont in the eye. "I'm sorry," he tells the gym leader. "I made a promise to you, and I failed to keep it. I'm sorry." Clemont doesn't react to this. Eventually, he sighs. "My dad is thinking of not allowing you and Bonnie to travel together anymore," he explains. "And honestly, I'm inclined to agree with him." Max looks up in horror.

"Our mother died while giving birth to Bonnie," Clemont explained. "Dad was devastated by the loss, but he was able to move past it and raise the two of us on his own. It doesn't help that Bonnie looks a lot like our mother. So, seeing her like that when we brought you two into the city nearly broke him. If I hadn't managed to calm him down, he probably would've donned his mask and gone after Team Terra. So, you can see why he's considering this. And like I said, if I didn't know how much Bonnie likes you, I'd be in agreement with him. You promised me that Team Terra weren't a threat. You promised me that you'd take care of her! And now I had to spend the past 3 days seeing her like that!" This becomes too much for Max to bear. At Clemont's words, he brakes down, crying his eyes out from the guilt. His cries are louder than he realises, because a few seconds later Bonnie is struggling out of her room. She hobbles over to him and hugs him, glaring at her brother. "What did you say to him?" she demands. "Only a nicer version of what dad planned" Clemont retorts.

Meyer looms over Max while Bonnie manages to reassure him that she doesn't want to stop travelling with him. By this point, Ash, May, Drew, Korrina, and even Serena have all gathered around this spectacle. Meyer chooses to ignore them all and focus on his daughter and her friend. "I'm afraid that's not your decision to make," he tells her. "Not after I saw the two of you like that. If I let you continue to travel with him, how will I know that that won't happen again?" "Because they have what they were after," Max explains, his voice still shaking slightly. "They took something from me, so they no longer need to chase me for it. I'd say they've probably left the region by now." Meyer remains doubtful. "If you knew why they chased you," he asked. "Why didn't you get rid of the thing they wanted?" "It didn't let him!" Bonnie replies quickly, before launching into an explanation about the Jade Orb and what it did to Max. "So you see," she rounds off, "I won't be in any danger if I continue to travel with him."

Max can still tell he's doubtful, so he comes up with something. "What if we had a battle?" he asks Meyer. "If I beat you, will that prove that I can look after her?" Meyer stares at him for a few seconds, before chuckling. "You're that desperate to keep travelling together?" he asks. Max and Bonnie nod their heads, which makes Meyer chuckle a bit more. "I wouldn't go that far," he says. "Especially since you weren't beaten by pokémon, but by people. So in order to placate my nerves, you'd need to beat me at hand-to-hand combat. Which I warn you, I'm pretty good at." Max suddenly becomes very nervous at this, but luckily for him Serena steps in. "I can vouch that they're no longer in danger," she says. "I've heard reports that Team Terra have been leaving this region over the past few days, so they won't be hunting them anymore. They're totally safe." Everyone looks at her quizzically. "Perks of being Kalos Queen" she replies.

At this, Bonnie turns to her father and looks at him with pleading eyes. Meyer chuckles at this and rubs his own while looking at the sky. "Fine, I guess it's alright then," he relents, causing Max and Bonnie to hug each other in celebration. "But, if I hear a whisper that Bonnie gets so much as a paper cut on your travels, I'll see to it that you're separated!" Max nods nervously. "Don't worry Mr. Citron," Ash tells him. "I'm going to start teaching Bonnie ways to defend herself." This makes Bonnie very excited. Everyone then heads to the lobby to get some lunch, or breakfast in Max and Bonnie's cases, and Ash explains Aura to Meyer while they walk. As they head down the hall, May walks in line with her brother. "You got the idea to battle Meyer from our dad, didn't you?" she asks him. Max blushes a bit and nods. "What do you mean?" Bonnie asks. May goes a bit pink at this, and Max explains.

"Ever since she became Top Coordinator of Hoenn, boys have been practically lining up for the chance to date her," he tells Bonnie, noting the slight look of jealousy on Drew's face. "So, in order to test which one of them deserves to date May, our dad has started challenging any suiter with a battle against the team he uses for league events. No one has been able to beat him yet." The two hear Meyer laugh at this. "You know, I've always thought that was a silly way of testing to see whose worthy of dating your child," he says. "I feel that it takes the choice away from the child themselves, since who they end up with is determined by the outcome of something they have no say over. The two doing the battle are essentially choosing the child's answer for them. To me, a person who will take my children's opinions into account are worthy of dating them, whether they can beat me in a battle or not." Max spots Drew listening intently to this, and can't help but chuckle at him.

Hopefully that was worth the wait. I wanted a reason to bring May back into this story, and also give Meyer a bit more time in the story itself, so I came up with this. Sorry if this feels like it doesn't add much, but it works better as a returning chapter than what I have planned for the next one. Even so, I had fun writing it and I'm glad to be updating this fic once more. As usual, this will be updated every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday until I'm done with this arc. So, look forward to that I guess, and I'll see you all on Thursday (hopefully).