Fun fact, this chapter was originally going to be coming out yesterday, but when I got about halfway through it, I accidentally deleted the entire draft. Fuck my life. So now, I'm updating it today instead. I was planning to wait until tomorrow, but once again, tomorrow may be a difficult time to update this fic, and I'm two chapters, this one included, away from a batch that I've been looking forward to writing for a while. So, I will update this today (unless I accidentally delete the draft again lol), and maybe update it tomorrow as well. We shall see. But enough of me ranting about my misfortune, let's get down to business.
Chapter 38:
Blazing Rematch
True to their plans, the two of them spend the rest of the day just relaxing. They don't think about the upcoming Gym Battle, or anything like that. They even manage to ignore the way their hearts are quickening because of how close they are to each other. Eventually, it's the early evening, so it's about time they come up with a plan for Bonnie to win her next badge. That's when Bonnie makes a request. "Actually," she tells him. "I was hoping that I could come up with a plan this time?" She knows she can just tell him that she will come up with the plan herself, but she remembers what happened in Laverre when she proclaimed that she won't need his plans that time. "Yeah, of course," Max replies. "Do you have something in mind?" Max also remembers that incident, which is why he understands why she asked. But he also saw how much she was affected by her loss and bad thoughts, so he understands why she needs to do this. "As a matter of fact," she tells him. "I do."
She goes over her plan with Max, who has to admit it's a good one. The two of them spend much of the evening working on it to make sure it's perfect, or as close to perfection as they can get. Eventually, they grow tired, as does Bonnie's team. So, once Max confirms that they can have the room for another night, they go get something to eat, then head back into their room. Once they change into their pyjamas, they head to bed, and both of them fall asleep almost immediately. As they do, Max just about registers just how close the two beds are.
Little does he know, he's not the only one who notices that. After watching that moment between Max and Bonnie, Dedenne decides that he should try again to get them to admit they like each other. And now, he decides to get a bit bolder. Like Max, he notices that the beds are close together. So close in fact, that if both people sleeping on the beds were to, say, drop their arms off the side, they might just 'accidentally' end up holding hands in their sleep. Smirking to himself at his own genius, Dedenne waits until both Max and Bonnie end up facing each other in their sleep. When they do, he carefully pulls their hands out so that they dangle off the bed. Once he's sure neither of them woke up, he carefully moves Bonnie's hand so that it gets placed in Max's. To his delight, the pair instinctively enclose their hands together, and the corners of Bonnie's mouth raise a bit into a small smile. Satisfied with his handiwork, Dedenne heads back over to Bonnie's bag, curls up in it, and falls asleep.
Max and Bonnie wake up at the same time, and feel something enclosed in their hands. They open their eyes and look down, only to see that they'd been holding hands in their sleep. Immediately, they both flush scarlet and leap out of bed, apologising for what happened, and unable to find the courage to tell the other that they didn't mind it. They both decide to brush the situation off and get ready for Bonnie's rematch. Bonnie grabs her stuff and heads into the bathroom to change, while Max does the same outside. As Dedenne is carried into the bathroom in Bonnie's bag, he can't help but silently fume that his plan had failed once again. "For a self-proclaimed matchmaker extraordinaire," he thinks to himself, "she is really bad at telling when someone is head over heels for her!"
Once they've finished getting ready and they've eaten breakfast, the two of them head down to the Gym for Bonnie's rematch. As they do, they can't help but glance down at the other's hand as they walk, when they think they aren't looking. After an awkward few minutes, they arrive at the Gym, just as Flannery is opening it. "Ah, so you're back for round two huh?" she calls to Bonnie as they approach. "And I'm glad to see you found her Max! He was really worried about you yesterday you know." Bonnie nods, once again apologising to Max for running off. Then, the two of them follow Flannery into the building. They come to the gym's main arena, and once again Max goes off to the side, while Bonnie steps forward, ready to go for their rematch. Like the day before yesterday, the ref goes through the rules of the battle, then asks if both participants are ready. Once both of them confirm, the ref declares that the battle has commenced.
Like before, Flannery sends out Magcargo. To everyone except Max's surprise, she sends out Shiftry first. Flannery can't help but grin at this. Not because she believes she's going to win, but because she get's the feeling that Bonnie is going to take this more seriously than she had in the original match. Sure enough, before Flannery can even think about her first move, Bonnie calls for Shiftry to use Leech Seed. Shiftry hurls the small seeds at Magcargo, which begin to sap its strength. Flannery decides to go all out in the first move, to make sure this attack doesn't do anything to Magcargo. So, she has him use Incinerate. This attack quickly overwhelms Shiftry, however it doesn't knock him out. He remains standing, but barely, and quickly heals a bit with Leech Seed. Then, he uses Night Slash to do just a bit of damage. Of course, this doesn't do nearly enough damage to actually take out Magcargo, who finishes Shiftry off with Ember.
"Shiftry is unable to battle!" shouts the ref. Bonnie returns Shiftry, then sends out her second choice, Dedenne. Silently praying that her plan will work, she Mega Evolves Dedenne, then orders him to use Quick Attack, followed by Play Rough. Magcargo gets hit by these attacks, then uses Rock Throw. Dedenne isn't quick enough to avoid the attack, but he's able to survive it. Then, just as Bonnie had hoped, Shiftry's Leech Seed is still in effect, and saps more strength from Magcargo. Now, Magcargo is on its last legs. So, when Dedenne manages to land one last Play Rough, it faints.
"Magcargo is unable to battle!" the ref declares. Flannery smirks a bit as she returns Magcargo to its ball. "I'll admit, I'm impressed with this turn around," she says. "But I'm afraid it won't be enough!" Then, she releases Slugma, and their battle resumes. Keeping her fingers crossed that all the training on Shiftry's Leech Seeds paid off, Bonnie orders Dedenne to run in and use Nuzzle to paralyse Slugma. Dedenne is successful at this, and as a result, Slugma is unable to move. Much to Bonnie's relief, the Leech Seed is still active, and saps some of Slugma's energy. Slugma uses Flame Charge, but Dedenne is able to avoid it, then attack with Thunderbolt. Slugma takes the hit, along with having more of its energy sapped, then strikes out with Overheat. This attack does hit Dedenne, but doesn't hurt enough to knock him out. Then, some of that damage is recovered by Leech Seed. Then, Dedenne uses his signature Quick Attack, Play Rough combo on Slugma, which almost finishes it off. Then, Slugma goes to use Overheat again, but before it can, it freezes up due to paralysis. Dedenne uses this opportunity to hit Slugma with one more Thunderbolt, which takes Slugma out.
"Slugma is unable to battle!" says the ref. "Gym Leader Flannery is down to her last pokémon!" As Flannery returns her Slugma, she can't help but grin. "Well, this is a surprise," she says, as she pulls out her final pokémon. "I'm impressed you've managed to overtake me. But now, it's time I burn your streak up!" Then, she releases Torkoal. And to Bonnie's horror, she raises her wrist to reveal a key stone. She taps it and and shouts, "Torkoal, Mega Evolve!" Mega energy floods out of Flannery's key stone and into a bracelet around Torkoal's leg that Bonnie somehow missed the day before. Then, Torkoal grows larger. Its shell changes, opening up and growing into the shape of a volcano. A rocky helmet flows around its head, and its tail reshapes into a mace. Now, Bonnie is facing a Mega form of Torkoal.
"Why didn't you Mega Evolve it last time?" Bonnie asks. Flannery shrugs. "Didn't see the point," she admits. "I was so close to winning that it would've felt like a waste." Bonnie glowers at this, then refocuses on the battle. Dedenne is on his last legs by this time, and unfortunately, it seems like Shiftry's Leech Seed has worn off. So, she decides to try to do as much damage to Torkoal as possible, in order to give her final pokémon a better chance of winning. So, she orders Dedenne to use his signature combo. Dedenne executes this, then goes in for Nuzzle. Unfortunately, his luck runs out. Torkoal manages to land Fire Pledge, which takes him out pretty quickly.
"Dedenne is unable to battle!" the ref calls. "Challenger Bonnie is down to her final pokémon. Bonnie returns Dedenne to her bag, assuring him that he did brilliantly. Then, she summons her final pokémon, Phanpy. Phanpy looks a bit apprehensive at the prospect of facing a Mega Evolved pokémon, but she was ready to take it down. So, she immediately charges forward and uses Bulldoze. Torkoal is unable to avoid it, but doesn't take a lot of damage. Then, Torkoal uses Iron Defence, making this situation a lot harder. Phanpy tries to use a few different ground type attacks, but Torkoal is protected by tucking into its shell. However, thanks to the volcano on its shell, it's still able to attack Phanpy with fire attacks. Bonnie starts to feel that this situation is hopeless. That's when she notices Max has started kicking the sand. She watches him do that for a few seconds while looking right at her. Then, she figures out what he's suggesting, gives him a nod as thanks, then refocuses on the battle.
"Phanpy, Sand Attack inside the shell!" she orders. Phanpy charges forward and fills her trunk with sand. Then, she leaps into the air and lands right in front of the hole in Torkoal's shell where its head pokes out of. She blasts the sand right into it, causing Torkoal to pop out in surprise, coughing as it does. Then, Phanpy takes the opportunity to use Bulldoze, then Earthquake. Torkoal is majorly damaged by these attacks and tries to use Flamethrower, but thanks to the sand in its eyes it misses. Then, Phanpy charges forward, uses Headbutt to knock Torkoal over, then uses Bulldoze one more time. This combined attack ends the battle, as Torkoal takes the Bulldoze, then goes limp, with its Mega form ending.
"Torkoal is unable to battle!" declares the ref. "Gym Leader Flannery has no more pokémon, making Challenger Bonnie Citron the winner of this battle!" Max runs forward and picks Bonnie up in celebration, then spins her around as she cheers. The two of them end up practically nose to nose before realising how close they are and separate, with max almost dropping Bonnie as they do. Then, still blushing, Bonnie approaches Flannery to shake her hand. "Well, that was a very interesting battle," she says. "You and Max make quite the team." "Actually," says Max, "that plan was all Bonnie's. I did nothing." Flannery raises an eyebrow. "You think I didn't notice the way you kicked at the sand back there?" she asks. Max blushes at this. Flannery laughs, then shakes Bonnie's hand and hands her the Heat Badge. Bonnie takes it happily, then she and Max bid farewell to Flannery and exit the gym. As they do, Bonnie asks, "So, where now?" Max grins at this. "Now, I think we'll head back to Petalburg," he replies. "I think it's time you challenged my father."
Yay, I didn't delete this draft! That fight was pretty fun to develop, and I'm quite proud of Torkoal's Mega design. Now, we're approaching the halfway point, so it's almost time for something I've been planning for ages. Now, as to whether or not we'll be seeing it next Tuesday or Thursday depends entirely on whether or not I'll be able to update this fic tomorrow. Let's just hope the universe throws me a bone and allows that to happen.