Ok, so as it stands, I am in much more of a writing mood than I was on Wednesday, so this chapter will hopefully be better than the last one. Also, I realised that I had miscounted the chapters when I was coming up with the final part of this volume, so I will have to extend a few things a bit more than I originally planned in order to get it all to fit. But, that's for me to worry about at a future date. For now, just enjoy, as we finally enter the climax of the first volume!
Chapter 81:
Message From The Boss!
At last, the day of round one of the Kalos League has arrived. People from all over Kalos, and in some cases, all over the world, to watch this event. Millions of people across the globe tune in with their TVs to see the event. All over Lumiose, there is a buzz of excitement as people make their way to the stadium for the event. Pretty much every business in the city, and many businesses across the region, have closed so their employees can go and see it. And in her home, Bonnie Citron is pacing nervously. This will be her first League, and she can't tell if she's more nervous or excited. Max, Korrina and her family all reassure her that she'll do brilliantly,, and when Ash and Serena arrive to wish her luck, with Ash in disguise to avoid attracting too much attention, he reassures her that it took him 7 tries to win a League, and now he's the reigning Monarch of 4 years. This reassures Bonnie, if only a little bit.
Once she's ready to go, the group leaves the Citron residence and heads towards the stadium. Along the way, they run into the rest of their friends, who all join with them to wish Bonnie, Tierno, Barry, Elio, and Paul luck in their forthcoming matches. Even Megan shows up to support them, something that Sophocles seems quite happy about. Eventually, they arrive at the stadium, and they split up. With the trainers going to challenge the League heading towards the waiting rooms while the rest of them head towards the stands. Before parting, Lukas and Shauna give Tierno and Barry good luck kisses, while Max, Lillie, and Miette give Bonnie, Elio, and Paul awkward hugs, or waves in Miette and Paul's case. As they leave the 5 trainers behind, Gary suggests they try and get one of the boxes for all of them. Max is sceptical about this, because those are nearly impossible to get into. But, when Ash, May, Zoey, and Iris remove their disguises and reveal who they are, the ticket salesman lets them have the last box available. As they head up to it, Gary mutters, "I should've bet money on that!"
Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Bonnie is greeted with something much less pleasant. Her rival, and biggest pain in the neck, Trixie. "Well, well, well, looks like you managed to make it after all!" she taunts as Bonnie walks in. "I should say the same to you," Bonnie replies curtly. "Considering the fact that it took you 4 tries to beat Wulfric. Oh, by the way, I beat him in 2." Trixie looks stunned by this, while Barry cracks up at Bonnie's retort. But, she recovers quickly. "He probably went easy on you the second time since you're the younger sister of the Lumiose Gym Leader," she says haughtily. "Just wait until we face each other in this League, I'll put you in your place." At Trixie's claim of nepotism, Bonnie gets so angry she raised her fist to throw a punch, but Elio stops her, shaking his head. So instead, she calms down and replies, "Funny you should say, because haven't I beaten you 3 times now?" Trixie goes so red in the face with anger, you could cook a barbeque on her forehead. "That's beside the point!" she shrieks. "This is where it matters! I will win this one! I've got to! Now, if you'll excuse me." And with that, she walks away from them.
Once she was gone, Paul turns to Barry. "Please, for the love of everything that is Holy, tell me I wasn't as bad as that!" he says. Barry shakes his head. "Not as bad as her no," he agrees. "But I'd say you were close." Paul scowls at this, but doesn't argue. Instead, he sits down on one of the benches and begins going through his team and his items, preparing for the coming battles. Bonnie is also going over all the possible ways this could go. Unlike before, where the battles were against pokémon of a specific type, these ones Max had no idea how to help her. So, what he did was go over his notebook of all the pokémon available in Kalos, and come up with some basic ideas on how to beat them. Now, Bonnie is sitting in the waiting room, trying to remember all of the advice Max had given her.
Eventually though, a noise sounds, signifying that everyone needs to meet up at the arena to find out the order of the first round. Bonnie, Elio, Barry, Tierno, and Paul wish each other luck, then head up to the arena. Bonnie had been to the Lumiose Stadium many times in her life, but this is the first time she does so when she's the one on the pitch itself. It looks a lot bigger down here than it does up there. As she looks around the stadium, she spots something in one of the boxes. Using her Aura to see it more clearly, she can see that it's a sign being held up by Max, which reads, "Bonnie Citron, future Champion!" Seeing this causes Bonnie to blush and nearly miss the announcement for the first round.
"Welcome to this years Kalos League!" the announcer calls. "This may be the biggest turnout we've seen in years! In fact, rumour has it that The Monarch himself Ash Ketchum, and Unova Champion Iris have come to watch! Whoever they're here to support must be one to watch out for if that's the case!" Everyone in the stands, and many of the trainers on the pitch, begin excitedly whispering to each other about this. Bonnie sees Trixie looking around, probably trying to figure out which of her competition The Monarch and Unova Champion are supporting. Bonnie wants to admit that it's her, but before she can, the announcer continues. "As I was saying," he says apologetically, "I am certainly looking forward to seeing what kind of battles we'll be seeing over the next few days! But now, onto the deciding. Everyone, please turn your attention to the screen, as we choose who will be battling who first!"
All eyes turn to the screen as the trainers' faces appear on it. With a gasp, Bonnie sees that she is up first. And, of course, she's going up against Trixie. Both girls lock eyes with each other, and sparks fly between them. "Well now, it looks like our first match will have the younger sister of our very own Clemont Citron!" the announcer exclaims. "This will be an interesting first match! But now, let the League begin!" With that, pillars of fire erupt along the sides of the arena, signifying the start of the League. All other trainers leave the arena, with Bonnie's friends wishing her luck. Bonnie nods to them in thanks, then looks at Trixie, who makes her way to one side of the arena. Without a word, Bonnie goes to the other. As usual, the ref gives the rules. A three-on-three battle, with substitutions allowed. Once those are clear, the screens on either side of the stadium show the challengers' faces, as well as how many pokémon they have left, and both girls choose their first pokémon.
But before they can send them out, the screens begin to fizzle. Everyone stops to look at them. Up in the stands, Max can hear a few staff members discussing the malfunctions. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Megan get up and move behind him. Before he can ask what she's doing, the images on the screens change. Instead of the score of the battle, they now show a man in a black mask and green hood, with a green cape flowing behind him. Max hears Ash gasp beside him. "Oh no," he says. "Not now. Please not now!" Before Max can ask him what's wrong, the figure begins to speak. "People of Kalos, and those across the world who are watching, you have committed an egregious sin!" he bellows. "I am the head of Team Terra! And I am here to right this wrong!"
At this, the screen changes. Now, it shows a strange device six-sided pyramid shaped device with the top cut off, with three purple poles coming out of the sides. Those poles are sending out some sort of force, which is keeping something in place. With a horrible jolt, Max realises what it is. "Rayquaza!" he exclaims. "This is Rayquaza, a Legendary Pokémon from Hoenn," the Boss continues. "They have an enormous amount of power. The power of our atmosphere itself. And I intend to use this power to set things right! Humanity has become too reliant on electricity and fossil fuels, to the point that it is harming our world, and everything in it! With the harnessed power of Rayquaza, we will overload your power system, and destroy all forms of electricity, thus removing the need of fossil fuels, and saving this planet!"
Several gasps and cries of fear and alarms echo through the audience at this. The Boss reappears on screen and laughs. "If all goes well, there will be no more need to harvest our planets resources to satiate humanity's greed!" he declares. "This was supposed to be tested in Johto, but there seems to have been a change in mind from some of my underlings!" Max can detect a hint of disapproval and annoyance in the Boss's voice. "But that matters not! By the end of the day, Kalos's electrical power will be no more, and the damage to our planet can finally begin to be undone! Now, I have received word that The Monarch is amongst you. Ash Ketchum, do not resist us! If you truly care about pokémon and our world, you will join our side! Everyone else should rejoice! As you are about to bear witness to the arrival of a better world for all of us! Humans, and pokémon! Goodbye for now!" And with that, his broadcast ends.
Immediately, the city begins to shake. In the distance, a light begins emanating from Lumiose Tower. Clemont stares at this in horror. "They got in!?" he exclaims with despair. "How did they get in!?" At that moment, Max feels an arm wrap around his neck, and something metal being pushed against his head. Turning his head slightly, he can see that Megan has grabbed a hold of him, and has pointed one of Team Terra's guns to his head. "Megan?" he asks. "What are you..." But his voice trails off when he spots something on her dungarees. a brown and green pin, with the letter T written on it. "No!" he gasps, feeling utterly betrayed. "Please don't tell me..." Megan looks at him unapologetically. "Yes," she replies, "I am a member of Team Terra. And you're coming with me. The Boss has need of you."
Now this is more like it, if I do say so myself! Sorry the past few chapters have been subpar at best, but now we get into the good stuff. Stuff that I've been planning for a while. The revelation of Megan's treachery was supposed to happen at the end of the last chapter, but then I moved it back a bit, which is one of the reasons why that last one suffered. But anyway, now we're on the really good stuff, and I will see you all on Sunday to see what happens next!