This chapter, while it has a basic structure, doesn't have a lot in terms of actual plans, as usual. I will be making this one up as I go along, and unfortunately has to be updated from my phone, as I will not get a chance to write it on my laptop until it's probably too late to write it for my deadline. So, do excuse the mistakes and the general messiness of the chapter, and enjoy.
Chapter 4:
Perusing Petalburg
Somehow, defying all logic and expectations, Brock and Olivia managed to set their wedding date to 2 weeks after Max's birthday. Which means that this delays Max and Bonnie's departure a bit. But, neither of them is quite bothered by that. Thanks to the new batch of audio logs, fresh new notebook, and, more importantly, no Team Terra tailing them, they figured this journey would be a lot quicker than their adventure through Kalos. So, they decide to use this time to stock up on supplies, and properly map out their route through Hoenn. Max is keen to show Bonnie just about everything Hoenn has to offer.
Max also uses this time to head up to Littleroot Town and visit Professor Birch's lab. His Vanilluxe is happy to see him, and is pleased to see the rest of Max's team when he releases them. "Hello Max," Birch says when he arrives. "Glad to see you've returned safely. Especially after what happened in Lumiose. "Hey professor," he replies. "I'm alright, thanks." "How's Treecko?" Birch asks him. At this, Max releases Grovyle, who makes a happy noise when he sees Birch. "Ah, so you've evolved!" Birch exclaims. "Good for you Grovyle. Now, what brings you here today?" Max explains his plan to show Bonnie around Hoenn, and her desire to go around it basically from scratch. "So, I've decided I want to do that too," Max explains. "I want to leave my team from Kalos here, except for Grovyle and Gallade, if that's alright with you?"
Birch grins at him. "Of course, that'll be more than alright," he tells him. "I'll take good care of them for you. Just call me if you'd like any of them back." Max nods, then turns to go. But before he leaves, he remembers something. "Oh, by the way professor," he exclaims. "Before I forget, I'm also going to need 2 Hoenn Pokédexes for me and my friend." Birch seems to realise that as well. "Good remembering Max," Birch tells him. "I almost forgot as well. One moment." With that, he heads into his house. After a few moments, Birch returns, carrying 2 small devices. "Here you go," he says, handing them over. "Good luck on the next art of your journey." Max thanks the professor, says goodbye to all of his pokémon, then returns home to Petalburg to give Bonnie her own Hoenn Pokédex.
During the 2 weeks build-up to the wedding, everyone got around to doing their own things together. Elio and Paul have been battling each other, with Gary joining in on occasion. Ash is still a bit down, but he too joins in eventually, causing Gary to join more frequently. Dawn, Zoey, Lukas and Barry, have been going on a few double dates together, whenever Lukas isn't busy with Gary and Goh discussing Project Mew. More specifically, they discuss how Lukas can join the group, something that his boyfriend greatly encourages. Dawn and Zoey, meanwhile, debate whether or not they should stick around in Hoenn to participate in the Hoenn contests with May. Ultimately, they decide not to, and instead return to Sinnoh for the Sinnoh contests again. Miette also wants to try out the Sinnoh Contests, so she manages to convince Paul to take her with him to Sinnoh and accompany her around the region so she can participate in them. Paul agrees, using the excuse that he was planning to return home to Sinnoh anyway to try again in the Sinnoh League, so this suits him just fine.
Tracey and Misty have been spending time looking at the local wildlife, especially the various water types around the place. Tracey has started sketching any of the pokémon that catch his eye, and sometimes he'd draw Misty as well. Max sees some of his drawings, and thinks about asking Tracey to sketch the pokémon for him when he publishes his books. Lana has also fallen in love with the marine wildlife near Petalburg. In fact, she's taken to swimming around with them on occasion. This decision sends Mallow's brain into total reset when she walks past one of the lakes while foraging, and spotting her crush in her swimsuit coming out of the lake. Mallow gets so flustered by it that it causes her to faint. "You have to be the single largest gay disaster I've ever met," Dawn comments when Mallow has recovered. "And that's saying a lot coming from me." This comment causes Sophocles to laugh hysterically, while Mallow goes red in the face and demands he shut up.
Speaking of Sophocles, he's taken to writing letters to Megan, asking how she is and how they're treating her. Megan writes back telling him, and by extension the rest of them, that she's fine, and that her sentence has been drastically shortened due to the info she gave Looker at the end of the 2nd Kalos Crisis. Remembering the events of the Crisis, and how he struggled to keep up with everyone ascending the tower, Sophocles decides to request that Kiawe help him get into better shape, which his friend is all too happy to agree with. Tierno sees this happening and decides to join in, wanting to also be in better shape for the upcoming contests. He's seen a few videos of them and decides he wants to give them a try. Plus, being thinner would make hugging Shauna easier. Shauna also joins in with Kiawe, helping him with his exercises and to give Tierno more encouragement. Lillie, Serena and Miette frequently end up watching Elio, Ash and Paul battle each other. When they aren't doing that, they find themselves shopping, along with May. While May is out shopping, Max sees Drew pacing around nearby forests, muttering to himself. Sometimes, he walks up to the Maple house and goes to knock on the door, but then quickly chickens out and retreats back into the forest again. It's obvious to Max what Drew is trying to do, but he doesn't say anything about it to May. Let her find out on her own.
With their wedding set up, Brock and Olivia turn their attention to where they will go for their Honeymoon. Once again, they have a small argument over where they will go. But after sticking another map to a dart board and throwing a dart at it, they settle on Honeymooning in Unova. Both Iris and Cilan offer to be their tour guides, but the couple politely refuse, saying they'd like to have a look around themselves. So, Iris and Georgia decide to go back to Kalos for a bit, then go somewhere else afterwards. As for Cilan, he and Burgundy discuss whether or not they should stick together. It's clear that both of them want to, but Burgundy is playing hard to get about it. Eventually they settle for going back to Unova and coincidentally go the same way. Gladion and Hau join in on the battles once or twice, but mostly watch them. They try to stay spread apart from each other, lest they get really flustered. In the end, Gladion decides to just go off and do his own thing, while Hau sticks around to watch the battles. Clemont and Korrina also go on a few dates together, and explore Petalburg and Littleroot by themselves. Clemont also finds out about the Electric Type Gym, and how techie the whole surrounding town is, and decides he wants to have a look at it when the wedding is over. Korrina also wants to visit it, along with the volcano, which is something Clemont is less keen about, but still agrees to go along with her.
Shopping isn't the only thing May is doing during this countdown. She has also begun her training with Meyer as the next Blaziken Mask. Meyer brings her out to a field nearby to Petalburg, wearing his Blaziken Mask attire. "I'm not going to have to wear that am I?" May asks him. Meyer laughs at this. "Not unless you want to," he replies. "I mostly wear it to protect my identity, and as a result, protect those I care about." May looks quizzically at him. "What do you mean by that?" she asks. "Well, as a Blaziken Mask, we have somewhat of an obligation," Meyer tells her. "We help those who are in situations that require more than mere pokémon battles to diffuse. Things like armed robberies, or crazed pokémon, as examples. Doing stuff like this can make enemies. Enemies who might go after those we care about. As an example, let's say you stopped a smuggling operation orchestrated by Team Rocket, and they could see your face. They may retaliate by going after your brother, or your parents, or that green-haired boy you like."
May goes red at this. "I-I don't-" she argues, bashfully brushing her hair into her face. Meyer laughs at this. "May, I am a father," he tells her. "I've seen this sort of thing develop twice now with both of my children. I notice these things. But let's not dwell on that. Instead, let's focus on your training." May suddenly looks excited. "What are we going to do first?" she asks, before getting an idea. "Is it going to be something boring like meditating?" Meyer laughs his head off at this. "Meditating!" he laughs. "That's hilarious. Don't worry, this isn't like Aura where you need to 'feel it flow through you' or anything like that. What we need to focus on is your bond and connection with Blaziken." May looks confused again. "But I already have a really strong connection," she argues. "I want to learn that fire fist thing." This causes Meyer to laugh again. "You need a really strong bond with Blaziken to be able to do that" he explains, before summoning his own Blaziken and Mega Evolving him.
"The key thing to note is, I'm not actually summoning fire," he explains. "So it will be useless when trying to start a campfire or lighting up a dark area. What's actually happening is my moves are so in sync with Blaziken's, and being done with such speed..." He trails off, then turns to a nearby rock. He and Blaziken mimic their movement to the point that they mirror each other. Then, Meyer strikes the rock with his fist, at near blinding speed. As Blaziken punches, he lights his fist on fire. Doing this causes Meyer's fist to catch fire, and smash the rock to pieces when his fist makes contact with it. "-it creates the illusion of flame on my hand, and adds immense power to my attacks" he finishes. May stares in amazement at the pile of rubble where the rock once stood. "So, I'll eventually be able to do that!?" she asks, her voice full of excitement. Meyer laughs again at this. "This and more," Meyer exclaims. "So, why don't we get started?" May nods eagerly, then Mega Evolves her own Blaziken. Then, her training as The 10th Blaziken Mask officially begins.
Sorry if that was a weird way to end this chapter, but I'm running out of time to write this. I'm also sorry that it's 1 day late. Back to form for me I guess. Because of this delay, chapter 4 will be coming out on Sunday instead of tomorrow. This is because I need to write a wedding scene, which is something I'm not at all confident with. SO, most likely, I will need to resort to using AI, and I would like to prematurely apologise for that. But once chapter 4 is done, it'll be smooth sailing from there, at least for a little while. See you all on Sunday with that.