Now we're back to the regular scheduled program of "I'm just going to throw these quick-fire chapters out because I'm stuck and so close to a scene that I actually have planned!" Sorry that there are so many in this arc, particularly after how much planning went into the first one. I really should've put more thought into the second half of Hoenn before I started releasing it, but it's too late for that now. Anyway, here's at least something that has a little bit of planning, so enjoy I guess.
Chapter 77:
Max and Bonnie stand at the dock, looking for the boat that will take them to Mossdeep. With only one badge left, Bonnie is eager to get this battle over with, and earn her last badge. She missed the Kalos League, and there's no way she's going to miss the Hoenn one. So, their plan is to take a boat Mossdeep, have Bonnie earn the next badge, then go back to mainland Hoenn and travel around so that Max can enter and win his final two contests. Now that the Ribbon Cup is so close, it has come to the point where, if you lose any of the upcoming contests, you won't have another chance to get enough badges, unless you already have four of them. So, Max is keen to make sure he doesn't miss another contest.
Unfortunately for them, their plan has to be quickly abandoned, as Max gets a messaged from the officials in the Contest League. Max's next contest will be held in Pacifidlog Town, which is on an island nearby to Sootopolis. Unfortunately, to get there they need to go in the opposite direction to get there. Now, that obviously complicates things, and Max is willing to forgo this contest so that Bonnie can make it to Mossdeep in time. But, Bonnie flatly refuses this. "This is our journey, remember? Not just mine," she tells him. "You want to enter this contest don't you?" Max nods. "And you want the chance to shut that prickly loser up?" Max nods again. "So, the only way to do that is enter this contest. Am I going to have to keep reminding you that you don't need to sacrifice your part of the journey for mine?" Max blushes a bit at this. "Sorry," he says, before looking around again. "So, are we going to Pacifidlog then?" Bonnie nods, and the two change what they're searching for.
After wandering around on the dock for a while, they finally find a boat marked for Pacifidlog Town. They purchase their tickets for it, then wait around for a while for it to arrive. While they wait, Max goes through his team to pick the perfect one to help him earn his 4th ribbon. After choosing the right one, he then spends the rest of his time lost in his own head, coming up with different plans for how he can impress the judges and enter the battle round. But, he's also chosen the perfect pokémon to battle against a certain strangely dressed, purple-haired annoyance that is likely also still in the competition. Max fantasises about all the ways he can humiliate Harley, and a satisfied grin appears on his face at the thought. He's shaken out of his reverie by Bonnie. "Hate to interrupt your Observant State, which no doubt involves you destroying someone in the upcoming contest, but the boat is here."
Max turns around and sees that she's right. The boat they need to get on has just docked, and people are in the middle of disembarking from it. Max stands up and grabs his bag, before walking towards the boat in question. Bonnie goes to follow him, but before she does, she stops and looks back at the city of Sootopolis, hoping to see her brother and his girlfriend one last time before they return to Kalos, but they don't show up. She wants to run back in and say goodbye one last time, but Max calls out to her. "Bonnie come on!" he calls. "We're going to miss the boat!" Bonnie nods, then turns away from the city and follows her friend onto the boat. As the two of them get on, neither of them notice the hooded figures hopping on after them. And those hooded figures, so focused are they on Max and Bonnie, that they too fail to notice two people climbing onto the boat from the water, who also fail to notice the hooded figures, as they too are focused on Max and Bonnie.
For the first half of the trip, nothing of note really happens. Just like the last time he and Bonnie were on a boat, Max watches the water and flying type pokémon that swim or fly past the boat. However, this time he stays back from the railings, and instead sits on a bench that's right in front of them. Bonnie sits next to him, staring at him as he falls into his Observant State once more. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, one of the reasons she wants him to travel with her as she tries to become the next Monarch is because she likes watching him enter his Observant State. The way he can completely shut out the world around him and hyperfocus on the way a pokémon behaves causes her heart to hammer really hard. Sometimes, she feels like she could watch him like this for hours and never grow bored. In fact, she's so focused on Max's Observant State that neither of them notice the two hooded figures until they're stood right behind them. She only spots them when one reaches out to grab Max's head. Thinking quickly, she dives onto Max, causing the hooded figure to grab onto air and almost lose their balance.
Max and Bonnie crash to the deck, Max utterly bewildered as to what just happened. He looks around, and sees the two figures that were standing behind him. "Of course," he grumbles, before summoning Pelipper and having her use Gust. The cloaks are blown off the two, and Max is expecting to see Sarah and Sam standing there. Instead, it's Debbie and Cooper, looking annoyed at being found out. Seeing the two people standing there in Team Terra uniforms causes many bystanders to flinch and leap back in horror. Max however just groans. "Will you please just leave us alone!" he exclaims. Both of them laugh. "Not while you hold information critical to our goals," Debbie tells him. "So, if you just come with us, we can use it to save the world!" "What information!?" Max demands. "There's nothing in this notebook that's of any use to you!" Debbie and Cooper laugh at this. "What makes you-?" Cooper begins. But before he can finish his sentence, someone else shouts, "Hold it right there!"
At first, people are relieved, because they think that some police officer has shown up to arrest these two. But then, Sarah and Sam walk over, stripping off their wetsuits to reveal their own Team Terra attire. The people's relief turns back to fear, but also some confusion. Why are these two agents of the same team fighting each other? "If anyone is going to bring in Maple's knowledge, it's us!" Sam declares. Cooper laughs. "Fat chance of that!" he barks. "You can't even get over your own delusions, what makes you think you can accomplish a task like this. At this, Sam rushes forwards and goes to punch Cooper in the face for that. But Cooper is able to grab his wrist and twist it. "For someone who wants to be a man so badly," he says, "you really do have the strength of a girl!" Then, he throws Sam across the boat.
Max tries to use this moment of infighting to sneak away, but Bonnie has other plans. After Cooper throws Sam away, Bonnie sees red and jumps on to Cooper's back. "You awful excuse for a human!" she screams as she begins to smack Cooper's head. Cooper snarls and throws Bonnie off. She hits the ground and feels the wind leave her lungs. Then, she feels Debbie pick her up and hold her high. "Show yourself Max Maple!" she shouts. "Or I'll throw your friend into the water!" Looking around, Bonnie spots Max rising to his feet. She tries to shake her head to get him to stop, but he either doesn't see it, or doesn't care. He bellows with rage and charges at Debbie. Cooper lunges for him, but Sam is quicker. He sticks his foot out and trips him up, allowing Max to jump over him and reach Debbie. He jumps at Debbie, who lets Bonnie go and gets ready to catch him. But Sarah gets their first. She grabs Max and starts to drag him away from the other two agents. Bonnie gets to her feet, makes sure no one is looking at her, then fires a small Aura Pulse from her hand, knocking Sarah over.
Sarah hits the ground, allowing Max to scramble free from her grip. He gets to his feet and runs over to Bonnie. The other agents push people out of their way as they try to reach Max first. But then, the floor beneath their feet freezes, and they suddenly find they they can't stand. As they slip around, struggling to regain their footing, a voice calls out from behind them. "I will not be allowing this shit to occur on my boat again!" Looking past the slipping agents, Max sees the ship's captain walking over to them, accompanied by his Walrein. "I allowed you two to pin my ship and threaten to destroy it before!" he says. "And that was a mistake. I will not allow you to do that again!" Debbie and Cooper manage to escape the small patch of ice they were slipping on, and glared at the captain. "Oh yeah," Debbie asks. "You think you can stop us? You're not strong enough." The captain shrugs. "Maybe not," he admits. "But I will not allow you to threaten my passengers!" Then, before Debbie or Cooper can react, he snaps his fingers, and his Walrein freezes the two of them in place.
Then, he turns to Sarah and Sam. "Now," he continues. "You have two options here. Either get back in those wetsuits and leave my ship right now, or I freeze you too and hand you over to the police!" Sarah and Sam panic, and quickly climb back into their wetsuits before jumping into the water. The crowd cheers as this happens, and thank the captain repeatedly. The captain waves them off, before walking over to Max and Bonnie. "Are you two alright?" he asks. Both of them nod. The captain smiles at this, then extends his hand and asks them to accompany him to the helm so he can talk to them. They look at each other, then nod and agree to follow him.
When they get there, the captain starts by shaking their hands. "You know," he says, "it's thanks to you two and your sister that I was able to fend them off," he tells them. Both Max and Bonnie stare in amazement at this. "What do you mean?" Max asks. The captain laughs. "I was the captain of the boat that those two attacked with the Sharpedo sub on the way to Dewford Island," he says. "I couldn't do anything during that situation, and had to rely on you to get us out of it. Well, after that day, I swore that if it ever happened again, I wouldn't do nothing, I'd fight back. And now, I got to keep my word, and I have you both to thank for it!" He smiles at them, which causes them both to blush. "Don't mention it," says Max. "If anything, we should be thanking you for helping us out back there." The captain waves them off. "Well then, let's just call it even," he says. Max and Bonnie nod at that, and shake his hands. Then, they return to the deck and watch as Pacifidlog Town comes into view.
Ok, so that turned out better than I thought it would. It also helps that my laptop was fixed, so I didn't need to write this on my phone like last chapter. I thought it would be fun to give that captain a shot at redeeming himself, since the situation is so similar to what happened back in chapter 14. But anyway, I don't have anything else to add to this, so I'll see you all in the next chapter.
