Before we get started there's something I'd like to address. In case you didn't notice, I've tweaked the name of this story a bit. That's because I realised that I had missed a clever trick by calling it Arc 1 instead of Volume 1, because the latter makes it sound more like a fact title, which is what I was going for. Anyway, this is another chapter I've been looking forward to writing for a while now. I wanted this to happen earlier, but I felt that it would fit better in the second half, so here it is. I don't really have anything else to say now, so just enjoy.
Chapter 46:
Fourthwheel's Realisation
May and Drew have to return to Hoenn the next day, but they promise that they'll return in time to see Bonnie compete in the league. "And there's no way in Mirror World that I'm going to miss the chance to get you back for all those times you teased me about Drew!" May quietly tell Max before she and Drew go into the airport. "What do you mean by that?" Max calls out to her as she walks through the doors. May laughs and keeps going. Max looks around and sees everyone else except Bonnie trying, and failing, to hide their own laughter. "What does she mean by that!?" he demands. "I guess you'll have to wait and see" Ash replies, which doesn't answer Max's question at all. But he decides to drop it, as he realises that he will probably not get an answer until May and Drew return to watch the League in 6 months time.
Speaking of the League, Bonnie is itching to have her battle with Clemont now that she's healed, but unfortunately she has to wait. Korrina was given a bit more time with Clemont because of the scare Max and Bonnie gave everyone, but now that time is up. Korrina is expected back at the Shalour Gym to resume her role as Gym Leader. So, Clemont is going to see her off. Because of this, Bonnie is stuck waiting until he gets back. She sits in front of the entrance to the gym, and Max sits with her, listening to his audio logs and writing down everything he hears into his notebook. He's reached the halfway point of this notebook, so it won't be long before he needs to buy a second one just to keep going. As the two sit there, Ash and Serena approach them. "We were just thinking about getting something in the nearby café," Serena tells them. "Want to join us?" Bonnie wants to say no so she can get started on her battle as quick as possible, but Max beats her to it. "Sure, we'd love to!" he replies, before standing up and pulling Bonnie to her feet. "Come on," he tells her. "This'll be better than sitting on the path." Bonnie nods reluctantly, and the two follow the couple to the café.
As they sit there with their drinks, Max and Bonnie catch Ash and Serena up on everything that happened since they last saw them in Santalune. "Man, I had no idea Chloe was Performing in the showcase," Ash remarks. "I hope I'll be able to run into Goh soon, it'll be nice to see him again." Serena nods her head. "I'll be sure we catch the next one she's in on tv," she agrees. "It would be fun to challenge her or Shauna in the Finals." Serena positively squeals upon hearing the trick Iris pulled with her anniversary present to Georgia, and Ash almost falls out of his chair laughing when Max tells him about Goh letting The Gym pokémon free in Coumarine by mistake. But throughout all of this, Bonnie remains somewhat silent. She sits there, thinking about the morning of the day she and Max were attacked, and how Max's Aura was a different colour to everyone else's.
Serena eventually notices Bonnie's silence. "What's wrong Bonnie?" she asks. "Nervous about battling your brother?" Bonnie snaps to attention at Serena's words. "Oh, I'm fine!" she says. "You're awfully quiet though," Serena comments. "It's not like you. So I just thought that something may be up?" Bonnie shakes her head. "Nothing's wrong," she says. "I was just thinking about something." "What were you thinking about?" Ash asks. Bonnie looks at him. "You know how you said that if I had any questions about Aura, I can ask you.?" she asks. Ash nods his head. "Well, I have something I want to ask you" Bonnie says. "Sure go ahead," Ash tells her, picking up his drink. "What do you want to know?" Bonnie takes a breath, then asks, "What does it mean when someone has Green Aura?"
Ash nearly chokes on his drink at this. Serena has to pat him on the back as he sputters in surprise. Whatever he was expecting, it clearly wasn't that. Once he manages to stop coughing, he looks to Max ands his girlfriend. "Would you two excuse us for a moment?" he asks them, before taking Bonnie's hand and leading her away from the table. He leads her down an alleyway, until he's certain that Serena and Max can't hear them. "Why did you pull me away from the table?" Bonnie asks him. "Because the answer to that question is rather... private," Ash explains, rubbing the back of his head in thought. "Palkia, I didn't think I'd need to explain this so soon." "What is it?" Bonnie asks desperately. Ash sighs, and decides to go with the honest answer. "You know how Blue Aura means someone you like, or someone who means you know harm, and Red Aura means the opposite?" he asks, to which Bonnie nods. "Well, Green Aura is something else, something a lot more special, and extremely rare."
"So, Max is a rare kind of person then?" Bonnie asks. "Not exactly," Ash replies, and Bonnie notices him smirk slightly at the mention of Max's name. "His Aura is blue for me. When someone has Green Aura, it means you love them dearly, and they're incredibly special to you." Bonnie thinks about this. "So, would Big Brother and Daddy's Auras be green as well?" she asks. Ash shakes his head. "No, not that kind of love," he says. "Put it this way, in all 4 years I've been using Aura, I've only ever seen one person in my life with Green Aura." "Who was that?" Bonnie asks. After a brief pause, Ash replies with, "...Serena." The world seems to stop dead as Bonnie realises what Ash is implying. "To put it in Matchmaking terms," Ash finishes, "Green Aura essentially means Soul Mates."
Bonnie goes a very, very deep shade of red at the mere thought of this. "No," she says. "No, that can't be right! I can't like Max like that, I just can't! He's my best friend, nothing more!" Ash shakes his head. "Not if you see his Aura as green," he says. "Whether you like it or not, you like Max. So, I think you should probably tell him." Bonnie goes even redder at this, if that was at all possible. "Nuh uh, no way, not going to happen!" she panics. Ash sighs. "If you think you can just ignore it and wait for it to pass, I've got some bad news for you," he tells her. "I've been dating Serena for 2 1/2 years at this point, and her Aura is still very much bright green. So, this won't be going away anytime soon, so you may as well be honest about it with him." Bonnie shook her head violently at this. "I can't!" she argues. "It could ruin our friendship! And anyway..." she slumps a bit at this, "there's no way he'd feel the same."
After Ash drags Bonnie away from the table, Serena and Max fall into a bit of silence. Serena can tell that something is troubling him, but he doesn't know what. After few more seconds of silence, Max finally speaks up. "One of the biggest annoyances with being neurodiverse is that I can't understand my own emotions sometimes," he complains. "Serena, you're good with those right?" Serena chuckles at this. "Better than you'd think," she tells him. "I'm dating Ash Ketchum for Arceus's sake! I know how to explain what people are feeling. So tell me, what's up?" Max thinks about this for a moment, trying to find the right words to describe these feelings. "Throughout our journey," he says, slowly, "I've found myself suddenly feeling like I've got Butterfree in my stomach. I get nervous and panicky, and my face feels like it's growing warm for no reason. There have even been a few cases where I've stumbled over my words a bit. Any idea what that is?"
He looks at Serena, to find her positively giddy at this. "Tell me," she says, leaning forward on the table. "Are you ever beside someone, or thinking about them, when this occurs?" Max thinks about this. "Yes," he realises. "It usually happens when I'm with Bonnie, or thinking about her. Why? What does that have to do with it?" Serena tries her hardest not to laugh. It was like she was speaking with 10-year-old Ash again. "Oh Max, what you just described is called having a crush. You have a crush on Bonnie." Max goes incredibly red at this. "Wh-what?!" he exclaims. "That can't be right! She's my best friend! There's no way I can have feelings for my best friend!" "But Barry and Lukas are best friends," Serena points out, "and they're clearly head-over-heels for each other."
Max wants to argue that there's a difference, but as he thinks about it, he realises that there isn't. With a sinking feeling, Max realises that he does have a crush on Bonnie. "May is never going to let me hear the end of this if she finds out!" Max complains, to which Serena giggles. "I thinks she already knows" she says, much to Max's embarrassment. "What should I do about this?" he asks, slumping forward on the table. Serena puts her hand on Max's head. "I think you should tell her" she says. Max's head shoots up at this. "I can't do that!" he almost shouts. "It could ruin our friendship! Besides, it's not like she reciprocates these feelings anyway." Before Serena could deny that or try to comfort Max, Ash and Bonnie come back. Max and Bonnie lock eyes and both blush, before looking away from each other awkwardly.
Ash and Serena then proceed to have a full conversation with just their eyes. Neither Max nor Bonnie could understand what they're saying, but whatever it is, it causes them to keep glancing at the two of them. Max is about to demand to know what they're talking about, but before he can, Bonnie stands up from her seat faster than lightning. "Clemont!" she shouts. "You're back! Let's have our battle now!" Max turns his head to see Clemont laughing at his sister's excitement. "Just let me reopen the gym!" he replies. "Wait outside for a bit while I get ready!" Then he heads into the gym. Max and Bonnie follow after him, but before they leave, Bonnie stops and turns to Ash. "When I beat my brother, you'll teach me more Aura stuff right!?" she asks Ash. Ash laughs and nods his head. "Of course!" he calls. "Good luck!" Bonnie thanks him, then runs over to the Gym.
When she's out of earshot, Serena looks at Ash. "You aren't going to teach her are you?" she asks him. Ash sighs and looks at her. "You know me too well" he replies. Serena gets a bit cross at this. "Ash that's not fair!" she scalds him. "You promised her you'd teach her-!" "And I have every intention of keeping that promise," Ash replies. "But I won't teach her how to wield it like I do. I'm only going to show her how to control it, that's it." Serena looks him up and down. "Ash, I know you're scared of what will happen if Aura Guardians become public knowledge," she tells him, more sweeter this time. "But that shouldn't mean that Bonnie can't be allowed to learn her full power." Ash shakes his head at this. "That's not it," he says. "If that was the reason, I wouldn't even teach her. In fact, being honest, if it was literally anyone else, except maybe Max, I'd have made them swear not to use it ever. But I know Bonnie, and if I make her do that, she'll just be angry at me and try anyway. The reason I want her to learn to fully control it is because I don't want her to over do it." Serena puts a hand on Ash's shoulder. "You're scared she might hurt herself" she says simply.
Ash shakes his head again. "That is a concern, but not my main one," he replies. "I'm worried she may accidentally kill someone with her power." Serena gasps at this. "If she lost control, and hit someone with an Aura Sphere, it could kill them if not properly controlled. Bonnie would probably be scarred for life if she had that kind of blood on her hands." Ash slumps a bit at this, and Serena realises something. "You're speaking from experience, aren't you?" she asks him. Ash shakes his head again, but Serena can see tears welling in his eyes. "Not quite," he replied. "I've never killed anyone, but... a couple weeks before I came to Kalos to ask you out, I returned home to Kanto first to see my mum after spending 2 years training on Mt. Silver. But when I got home, my house had been broken into. I ran in, and saw my mum was being attacked by an ex member of one of the teams I brought down, don't know which one. He'd come looking for me for revenge, but found I wasn't home, so he took his anger out on my mum instead. I was so overcome with rage that I... beat him to an inch of his life. He was lucky to have survived what I did to him."
Serena pulls Ash into a tight embrace at this. "But he did survive," she tells him. "And your mother was in danger. She's alright now, right?" Ash nods. "So, why are you still scared?" "Because I don't want Bonnie to go through that," he says. "If she knows how to throw and Aura Sphere, and something causes her to get angry, she might throw one without thinking. It's better for everyone if she doesn't learn those things." Serena nods in agreement. "But I think you should explain this to her," she tells him. "Otherwise she'll get her hopes up too high." "You're right," Ash agrees. "I will. But for now, why don't we enjoy a bit of time together now that we have nothing to worry about?" Serena agrees immediately, before the pair lock lips.
So yeah, Ash is getting some character development. I thought it would be an interesting concept to have him terrified of teaching Bonnier because he doesn't want to make the same mistakes as he did. Also, finally, Max and Bonnie are aware of their feelings for each other! But I can tell you right now, it will be a good while before I actually put them together. Well anyway, with that, I shall see you all on Saturday for the battle between the Citron Siblings.
