So, this chapter has no real plan to it, and as such I will be making it up as I go along. There are a few reasons for this. I'm completely stuck on where to go next in this story, I'm swamped with college work that I can't bring myself to start, and I'm currently going through some personal difficulties, which really slows the flow of my creative juices. As such, this will be similar to the Shroomish chapter, in that I will be making it up as I go. So, wish me luck with everything, and lets get back to this.
Chapter 60:
Loudred and Clear
After they finished the contest, Max approached Drew and asked him what he wanted to tell him. Drew internally debates with himself as to whether or not he should say something, then decides to go with it, and he explains to Max May's plan. Max is gobsmacked by how reckless his sister is being, and immediately calls her. The two siblings proceed to have a small argument about this, but eventually, Max accepts what she's doing, provided that she doesn't get hurt. With that, they end their call, then Max and Bonnie make plans for where they're going next. Bonnie wants to get back on the road and head to Fortree, as they've lost a lot of time thanks to Brendan. Max agrees, and begins mapping out the quickest route to Fortree. Once that's sorted, they decide to find out what the others are doing. Tierno decides to try and catch a new pokémon for his team, so he and Shauna are going to be travelling around different routes for a bit. Clemont and Korrina decide to head to Larousse to see what it's like. Max's explanation of what it is intrigues Clemont.
As for Drew and Kenny, it turns out that there's a contest hall recently built in Fortree, so they're going there as well to enter it. With this in mind, the four of them agree to travel together to Fortree. Max is pleased to have companions again, because it means he'll have some help if Team Terra try to strike again. Also, because he will have other people's pokémon to make note of. Specifically how they behave in comparison to their wild counterparts. With this in mind, the group of four spend one last night in the Rubello Pokémon Centre, then, after a round of goodbyes to the others, head off for Fortree.
Nothing much happens to them over the next few days. Max documents some pokémon when he isn't training his for the contest in Fortree, with Bonnie doing the same for the flying type gym. Dedenne is going to be her trump card, but she wants to work on Phanpy's rock type attacks as well. Drew and Kenny also spend their time training their pokémon for the contest. All three boys agree to do so when they're alone, so as not to give each other an advantage. Max has decided to use Grovyle for this contest, and is spending his time working out which moves will best wow the audience during the appeals round. He's also curious as to what the other two are planning, but he doesn't go and investigate, because that would be unfair on them.
During one such day of training, they find themselves resting in a place without much in the way of concealing their training methods. So, the three boys venture further into the woods in order to find a perfect spot for training without being seen. Max calls dibs on staying in their campsite with Bonnie. As the other two disappear into the trees, Max swears he sees Drew grin at him a little bit. Max feels his cheeks warm a bit, but he ignores them and focuses on his training. As he does, he gets Bonnie's opinion on some of his moves. He spends roughly an 15 minutes perfecting his style, but he's starting to feel confident in his technique. But, just as he's really getting into the swing of his training, his phone begins to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he sees that it's Kenny calling him. "Hey, what's up?" he asks. "We need to get out of here, now!" says Kenny, speaking in a whisper. "What's wrong?" Max asks. "I've encountered a sleeping Loudred," Kenny replies. "I don't think I need to explain why this is a bad thing." Max doesn't and agrees that they probably should leave. He ends the call and phones Drew, explaining the situation to him. Drew also agrees to leave, and begins making his way back to the camp.
When the four of them are back together, they immediately start packing their things. They do so quietly so as to avoid waking the pokémon up. Just as they're finished and are starting to leave, they hear a feint sound in the distance. They strain their ears to listen closely, and quickly realise it's the sound of an aeroplane. The four of them are immediately on edge. They look around the sky, and it doesn't take them long to spot the plane in the sky. Sure enough, it has the Team Terra logo on it's side. Without a word to each other, they start running away. Before long, the plane swoops down lower and begins firing nets and ropes down. Bonnie releases Shiftry while Max does the same with Grovyle. The two pokémon proceed to slice through all of them, preventing them from grabbing anyone. So, two pokémon are released to deal with them. Altaria and Pelliper. Drew and Kenny send out their own pokémon to fight back, and a furious fight begins. Max is conscious of all the noise they're making, and is about to point that out, when the plane begins firing bullets. That's when everything goes south.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" An angry bellow erupts from the forest behind them. The fighting stops as all the pokémon look apprehensively at the trees. Debbie and Cooper use this as their chance to swoop down and snatch Max off the ground. Bonnie screams and orders Shiftry to stop the plane in its tracks. But before Shiftry can even move, an explosion of noise bursts from the trees, striking the plane dead on. The plane turns on its side and scrapes its right wing on the ground, snapping it off. Max hits the ground and rolls, coming to a stop in front of the trees. Bonnie runs over to him and finds that he's unconscious. She struggles to pick him up just as Debbie and Cooper scramble out of their plane. "You're lucky we know how to mend this quickly," says Debbie. "Or this would be a lot more personal." Cooper nods, calling his Altaria over to him, while Debbie does the same with her Pelliper. "Now, we have need of that boy!" they both say. "So hand him over if you know what's good for you!"
Bonnie is about to refuse, when she hears the angry roar behind her again. Turning around, she spots the Loudred in question charging at them from the forest. She dives out of the way, pulling Max with her. As she does, she hears him groan and mumble something. Relieved to see that he's regaining consciousness, Bonnie focuses on Team Terra. As Drew and Kenny run to join her, they watch as the Loudred charges straight for Debbie and Cooper. They try to use their pokémon to defend themselves, but the Loudred is quicker. Before either of them can even call an order, it screams at them. This scream is so powerful that it sends them and the ruins of their plane blasting off into the distance. Bonnie, Kenny, and Drew are relieved to see this. But that relief quickly evaporates when the Loudred rounds on them. "RUN!" Drew shouts. Bonnie hoists the now conscious Max to his feet, wraps his arm around her shoulder, then they turn and run. The Loudred roars and follows them.
As they run, Max mumbles something, but Bonnie can't hear it. Taking a risk, she slows down a bit to listen. "I've... got a plan," Max mumbles. "Bad one... but... should work." Bonnie isn't sure about this, but asks Max to explain what he has in mind. He's correct, it's terrible. But he's also right in that it should work. So, she calls his plan to the other two. They're sceptical, but also tiring out from all the running, so they relent and go along with it. So, Max slips out of Bonnie grip and pulls out Breloom. Loudred roars again and picks up speed, hoping to charge them down or blast them away for interrupting its nap. But before it can reach them, Max orders Breloom to use sleep powder. Breloom sprays so much of it into the air that it causes a small cloud to almost obscure their view of the angry Loudred.
Loudred charges straight through the cloud and keeps going. Worried that his plan failed, Max holds his arms up defensively. Bonnie prepares to dive onto him to save him. But instead, Loudred slows, its eyes drooping. As it runs, it begins to trip on its own feet, stumbling a few times. Right before it hits Max, it stops, and hits the ground instead. Max pulls out an empty pokéball and throws it at the Loudred. The pokémon disappears inside and the ball shakes once... twice... thrice. The group watches with baited !Loudred gets caught. The four of them breathe collective sight of relief as Max picks up his new Loudred and attaches the ball to his belt. "You're not actually going to use that are you?" Kenny asks. Max shrugs. "Maybe," he replies. "It could come in handy at some point, for my research if nothing else." No one can really argue with that, so they just shrug and keep on going. With that mess sorted, all that's left to do is find a Pokémon Centre or clinic to treat Max's wounds.
Well, that turned out better than I thought it would. I've aways liked Loudred, so I thought it would be a fun way for one of them to catch one. Now, let's see if I can remember that he has one. Knowing my track record, that may or may not be likely. As for the Fortree contest, I figured I should make one up after skipping three of them. If I didn't, then Max would end up basically winning all of his contests. Honestly though, without the Tremors, this arc is becoming more difficult to write. With what I have planned for the end though, I may start rushing a few things in future to fit it all in.. But anyway, see you in the next chapter, whenever that may come out.