I was going to dedicate this chapter to the wedding of Brock and Olivia, but I genuinely couldn't make it any good whatsoever, even with AI. So, instead, I'm going to go over the highlight reel of their wedding, then put what was going to be the next chapter into this one. Sorry to anyone (if there is anyone) who actually wanted to see the wedding, but I genuinely can't write them, as I'm basically Aroace (my actual sexuality is way too fucking complicated to explain, so just suffice it to say that I'm almost but not quite Aroace). So anyway, I'm going to gloss over the wedding, then focus on one of the more important aspects of this part of the story. Also, as a warning, this chapter is a bit of a heavy one.
Chapter 4:
Broken Promise
All in all, Brock and Olivia's wedding was a resounding success. Being the Hoenn Champion, Brenden is the one to marry the two, with the wedding being held in Professor Birch's lab, surrounded by many different pokémon. All of Brock's and Olivia's families have flown out from Kanto and Alola to witness it. Max acts as the ring bearer, with one of Brock's sisters as flower girl. Ash acts as Best Man, with Mallow as the Maid of Honour. Everyone enjoys the reception, which is held in the Petalburg Gym, where Brock takes the time to thank everyone for attending. Even Ash manages to briefly get out of whatever funk he's in to deliver his Best Man speech, which consisted of him making fun of the fact that Brock flirted with every single girl he met, before finally stopping when he met Olivia. "I think I speak for quite a few people when I say, we're very thankful for that" he jokes. Max and Misty, amongst others, can't help but nod in agreement.
After the wedding, everyone begins to part ways. First to leave are Brock and Olivia, who leave pretty promptly after the wedding. The next to go are Dawn, Zoey, Miette and Paul, who all return to Sinnoh for the Sinnoh contests, and so Paul can try again in the Sinnoh League. He and Ash have a quick battle before they leave, with Ash coming out on top. But once again, it's clear that Ash has returned to his funk. Garry, Lukas, Goh, Barry and Chloe are the next ones to go, as Garry and Goh want to bring Lukas to Kanto to have him fully initiated into Project: Mew. After finding out that Galar is also accepting of homosexuality, Iris and Georgia decide to go there next, but return to Kalos first to finish off their exploration of that region. "And I thought we took ages to get through it!" Max comments to Bonnie as they say their goodbyes to the couple. Misty is next to leave, with Tracey going with her, as she has to return to her position as Gym Leader. Naturally, the Alola Gang all return to Alola, now that Elio isn't competing in any League. Lillie is hoping that now he has won one, the Alola League will allow him to compete in it again. Meanwhile, Gladion needs to return to helping run the Aether Paradise. And of course, they're all needed to help counter any Ultra Beasts that come into the Region. Finally, Cilan and Burgundy are the last ones to leave, heading back to Unova for whatever reason.
As for Clemont, Korrina, Tierno, Shauna, Ash and Serena, they're remaining in Hoenn for a little while longer. Clemont wants to stick around in Petalburg until Max and Bonnie set off on their journey, to keep an eye on Bonnie's Aura training. Tierno and Shauna wait around a little while longer, but eventually, they too depart, setting off to Rustboro City for the contest being held there, with both Max and Bonnie promising the two that they'll try to make it in time to watch Tierno. As for Ash and Serena, Serena wants to spend a bit more time in Hoenn before returning to Kalos, and Ash stays with her. Drew is also leaving Petalburg in order to head home, so May decides to walk with him for a bit. Not all the way to where he lives of course, as she still has some more training with Meyer, but she wants to walk at least some of the way with him. "I swear to Arceus if you say one word about this Max," May threatens before she leaves, "I'll tell Bonnie how you feel about her!" Max goes bright red and clams right up.
But with that, Petalburg is a lot quieter. This causes Bonnie to grow really excited, because it means she can finally do some more Aura training with Ash. However, it doesn't take long for Bonnie to notice that Ash seems to be avoiding her. She can hardly find him around Petalburg, and when she does spot him, he turns and leaves the way he came from. It doesn't take long for this to make Bonnie mad. So, the next time he does this, she runs after him, calling his name and making sure she doesn't lose sight of him. Eventually, she manages to corner him in a field outside of Petalburg. She can see that the melancholy still plagues him, as sorrow still lingers in his eyes. But she ignores it and instead focuses on what's on her mind. "I was just wondering when you'll be teaching me more Aura?" she asks him. Ash looks visibly uncomfortable at this. "Ah," he says. "About that..." Bonnie doesn't like the way he said that. "What's wrong?" she asks him. "You seem so dour lately. Is something the matter?" Ash shakes his head and puts on a content face. "Nothing," he says. "I'm fine. The thing is... I'm not going to teach you anything else."
Bonnie's jaw drops. "What!?" she demands. "Why not!? You promised!" Ash nods. "I did," he agrees. "I promised I'd teach you how to control it, which I have done. I never said anything about showing you how to wield it." Bonnie's anger flares at this. "What do you mean!?" she asks. "Why not!" "Because it's too dangerous!" Ash replies, trying to keep his own anger out of his voice. Bonnie scoffs at this. "If you're worried about me using it in front of others and letting the world know about us, then don't," she tells him. "I'll keep it hidden! I won't use it in front of others, I promise!" "It's not that!" Ash argues. "If that's what I was worried about, I would've forbade you from ever using it! I'm concerned for your safety! I don't want you to lose control and hurt someone! That's why I'm not teaching you anything else!" Bonnie cannot believe what she's hearing. She feels her anger reaching a boiling point, and has to let her Aura flow through her body to avoid it bursting out. "Well, if you won't teach me, then I'll teach myself! You can't stop me from doing that!"
She expects Ash to shout at her for this, and to demand that she do no such thing. Instead, he just sighs dejectedly. "You're right," he says. "I can't stop you from doing it yourself. So instead, I'll ask you this:" He looks up at her. "Can you guarantee with absolute certainty that absolutely nothing will go wrong?" Bonnie looks surprised. "Can you promise that no one will accidentally get hurt during your training?" Bonnie is stunned by this. "Wh-What do you mean?" she asks. At this, Ash summons and Aura Sphere. "Did you think I managed to figure this out on my first try, with no problems?" he asks. Bonnie says nothing. "Well I didn't. It took me so much time and energy to get it to work. And that's before I learned how to throw it. When I did, I hardly ever hit my mark on the first try. I was lucky that I was up on Mt. Silver as I trained, otherwise I would've hit someone." He extinguishes the Sphere. "But you won't be so lucky. What if you throw one, and it hits someone? What if it hits Max?"
"It won't!" Bonnie interrupts angrily. "Can you guarantee that?!" Ash shouts back. "Can you promise me that nothing bad will happen to anyone while training!? Because if you lose control of your Aura, and it hits Max, you could seriously hurt him. Maybe even kill him. Are you prepared to take that risk?" Bonnie can't believe what she's hearing. The thought of causing Max harm makes her want to tear up. "But- But- But you taught me how to control my Aura," she argues, a lot less strongly than before. "So that won't happen." Ash sighs again, looking even more melancholic than before. "I can control mine perfectly," he tells her. "But during the Second Kalos Crisis, I let my emotions get the better of me for one second, during which I threw an Aura Sphere at Sub-Admin F, who was threatening Serena's life. In that 1 second of loss of control, I threw the Sphere. It hit F in the chest and sent him flying out a window. In that loss of control, I killed someone. I have blood on my hands, because I let my emotions get the better of me for one second. I can't let the same thing happen to you. So, I will not be teaching you anything else." Bonnie says nothing to this. She just glares at Ash, then turns and runs off back to Petalburg, wiping tears from her eyes.
Ash slumps down on the ground with his head in his hands. Pikachu comes down from his shoulder to comfort him. "Are you sure that this is for the best?" the electric mouse asks. Ash shakes his head. "I'm not really sure of anything anymore," Ash replies. "But I think this was the right thing to do. You see the way I am now Pikachu. Just imagine how Bonnie will be if that happens to her." Pikachu shakes his head, saddened by the image. "But she isn't 6 years old anymore," Pikachu pointed out. "She's tougher now. I think you should let her try. If things go wrong, it'll be up to her whether she continues using it or not." Ash considers this, then shakes his head. "You make a good point buddy," he says. "But I don't want Bonnie to have blood on her hands if I can avoid it. You understand right?!" Pikachu still thinks it would be better to allow Bonnie to learn for herself, but he decides to let Ash deal with his struggles right now, and come to his senses later. Until then, he's content with comforting his master until then.
Like I said, this was a heavy chapter. I wanted to explore the idea of Ash dealing with true affect of his powers. Also, I needed a reason to delay Bonnie being able to use them to the fullest, and this was the way I thought of. I like the idea of a character coming to terms with the fact that they've killed someone, so it'll be fun to explore that with Ash. You'll see what that eventually leads to later on in this arc. Now, on Tuesday, Max and Bonnie are finally going to set off on their journey, and the plot will finally begin (or resume depending on how you look at it). See you then!