Happy 1 year anniversary to The Trainer's Guide to the Pokémon World! It was this day last year that the 1st chapter was uploaded. But of course, we've just begun to make a dent in the sheer length that I have planned for this fic, so there will be a few more anniversaries before this story is done. Unfortunately, I don't have anything special planned for this chapter, unlike in the other long fic I uploaded, The Children of Thieves (shameless plug). So, this will be pretty generic. But still, I hope you enjoy, and thanks to anyone who's stuck around since the beginning, and anyone who's still reading this!
Chapter 6:
It doesn't take long into their journey for both Max and Bonnie to realise that this one will be quite similar to the 1st one. Namely, just how slowly they'd be travelling. Bonnie had hoped that since a lot of pokémon from Hoenn could be found in Kalos, Max wouldn't be writing down as much, or recording into his Audio Logs. While she very much enjoys watching his Observant State and the way his eyes seem to light up whenever he speaks into the logs, she'd like to take less than 11 months to travel around a region. But, she should've known it wouldn't be that easy.
As it turns out, even if Max already has plenty of notes on a pokémon he saw in Kalos, he still feels the need to document every detail he sees about them. It's not all bad, because it means Bonnie has a chance to look for her 1st pokémon in the Hoenn region, and she gets to watch his Observant State once more. But she's still curious about it all the same, and asks him about it when they stop to rest. "Because I want to examine their behaviour," he reminds her. "The pokémon from here behave differently to how they do in Kalos, due to a different climate and other effects. By going into as much detail, I can truly demonstrate my point about behaviours." Max stops talking and blushes a little bit. "Sorry, I'm probably boring you." "No, no, not at all!" Bonnie replies quickly. "It's interesting. I like hearing about this from you." This makes Max's cheeks redden a bit more, and Bonnie's to gain a bit of colour as well.
Over the next few days, as they continue on their way to the 1st gym, the two begin to reminisce on their journey through Kalos, especially the earlier days. More specifically, they laugh at Sarah and Sam's attempts at stealing the Jade Orb from them. They laugh about their wacky and over the top their plans were, especially when compared to Team Rocket's plans. Which leads to them laughing at some of Team Rocket's overcomplicated, and hair-brained schemes. On one particular day, about a week after they left Petalburg, they're so distracted by their conversation about the two teams, that they fail to notice the piece of rope lying across the path. It isn't until Max's foot catches on it that he's even aware it's there, but by then it's too late. Max is pulled back along the path by a few metres, before he's hoisted 2 metres into the air and left dangling by his ankle from a tree. He can feel his glasses slipping off of his face and uses his hand to keep them in place.
He looks down at Bonnie, and sees her staring at him in surprise, and by the looks of it, it appears as though she's trying not to laugh. "Are you alright?" she asks him. "Well, other then being utterly humiliated, I'm fine," he tells her. "Seriously, this is the oldest trick in the book! How in the name of Arceus did I fall for it?!" He tries to reach up to his ankle to untie the knot, but he can't quite reach it. He flops back down to his dangling position and groans. "Who the Mirror Realm sets something like this up in the middle of the path!?" he exclaims. Bonnie shrugs. "Probably some evil poacher," she suggests. "They probably wanted to catch some poor pokémon with it. You probably saved a pokémon from ending up like Gallade and Gardevoir were by triggering it. Max isn't so sure about that. "By the way Bonnie," he says. "Are you going to continue to stare at me, or are you going to help me down?" Bonnie suddenly realises that she's been staring at Max the whole time, especially since his t-shirt has fallen down to his armpits. Going suddenly red, she chuckles and nods her head, before going over to the knot and beginning to untie it.
As she does so, Max looks down at the ground where the rope was hidden. "You know," he comments, "I don't think this was left here by a poacher." Bonnie looks up at him from the knot. "Why not?" she asks. "Well, pokémon don't usually come out onto an open path like this," he points out. "Not unless there's something to lure them out here, like food. But there isn't any food on the ground." "How can you tell?" Bonnie asks him. I'd Max's arms weren't dangling past his head, he would've facepalmed. "Because the ground is pretty much all I can look at, and there's no food on it" he says, somewhat sarcastically. Bonnie facepalms herself. "Oh right, duh!" she exclaims. "But if poachers didn't set this trap up, then who did?"
At this, Max hears the sound of two people laughing coming from down the path behind him. At first, he thinks it's two women, but then realises that one of them is a high-pitched man's. With a start, he realises that he recognises those voices, and he groans with annoyance. "Oh no," he moans, spinning himself around. "Not you." When he's fully turned around, he finds himself face to face with none other than Sarah and Sam, who are staring up at him gleefully. "Well, I will be honest, I wasn't expecting it to work," Sarah comments. "Looks like I owe you 500 PokéYen." Sam grins a bit at this. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that to work either," he says. "But I'll still take the money." If he wasn't tied up, Max would happily let these two idiots chat about money while he and Bonnie make their escape. So instead, he decided to cut their money talk short. "What do you want with me?" he asks. "Because if you're after the Jade Orb, I'm afraid I don't have it anymore. Rayquaza took it back after the Second Kalos Crisis. So, if you want it, your going to have to start searching for it from scratch. Now, if you would be so kind as to untie me and let us be on our way, that would be swell."
It's a long shot, but Max hopes that if they realise he doesn't have the Jade Orb anymore, they may let him be. Instead the pair just laugh. "Oh, but we aren't after the Jade Orb anymore," says Sam. "This time, we need your notebook." Max is so stunned by this that it takes him a few seconds to fully process what Sam just said. "I'm sorry, what?" he asks. "What do you need my notebooks for?" Both Sarah and Sam look at each other, waiting for the other to answer. "Well, I'll be honest I haven't the faintest idea," Sarah admits. "But The Boss says that you intelligence is vital to our cause, so just hand your notebook over and we'll be on our way." "We'll even let you down!" Sam adds. Max is totally befuddled by this, but he needs to keep them talking so they don't realise that Bonnie is undoing the knot. "So, you won't let me down unless I hand the notebooks over?" he asks. Both of them shake their heads. "But, if I don't hand them over, won't that just keep you two stuck here until I do?"
Once again, he's hoping that the two will come to a realisation and let him go, and once again, he's left disappointed. At his words, Sarah pulls a radio from her belt. "Well, if you don't hand the notebooks over, we can always call for backup," she tells him. "Let's see if you're so stubborn when our team descends upon you." Max curses in his head. "I don't even know what's in my notebook that has your boss so determined to take it!" Max calls down. "The only thing of interest that I wrote is something about Rayquaza! But, I am going to publish them all when they're all finished, so if you just wait until then, you can buy it yourselves." Both Sarah and Sam laugh it this. "While I admit that would be a much easier way of doing it than this, I'm afraid that will take too long," Sam tells him. "So, you really have only too options; you can either hand the notebooks over to us and go free, or you can remain dangling there until we call for backup." Max quickly looks over at Bonnie to see that she's got the knot untied. Turning back to Team Terra, he tells them, "I can't give you my notebooks. They're my life's work and I can't afford to part with them. But what I can do if stall you long enough to allow my friend to untie the knot."
At that moment, Bonnie lets go of the rope and Max drops from the tree. He has just enough time to swing backwards and tuck himself into a ball in order to avoid landing on his neck or his bag before he hits the ground. He lands on his hands and knees instead, which still knock all of the air out of his lungs. Bonnie runs up to him and helps him to his feet. "Think you can run?" she asks. Max shakes his head, too winded to speak. Instead he pulls out a pokéball and gives her a look, one that clearly says, "Let's beat them the old fashioned way!" Bonnie nods at this, then pulls out her own pokémon. Sarah and Sam see this and also pull out their own. "Come on out, Grovyle!" Max coughs, sending out his starter. "You too Braixen!" Bonnie shouts, sending out hers. "Go, Gourgeist/Mr. Mime!" both Sarah and Sam shout at the same time. All four pokémon stare each other down, with the first two seemingly just as unhappy to see the latter two as their masters are about Team Terra.
Their battle starts with Gourgeist sending a Shadow Ball towards Braixen. She intercepts it with Fire Spin, then launches Flamethrower at Gourgeist, who's unable to counter it or dodge. The Gourgeist gets hit with the flame and takes a lot of damage, but doesn't faint yet. Mr. Mime uses reflect to put up a barrier between the two opposing sides. But Grovyle sends Vine Whip under the ground, striking Mr. Mime before he can finish putting up the barrier. Mr. Mime is thrown backwards, but still manages to stay standing. He launches a Psybeam at Grovyle, but Grovyle blocks it with Vine Whip. Then, Braixen rushes forth with Fire Spin, trapping Mr. Mime in a fiery vortex. It spins Mr. Mime around, then knocks him out. Gourgeist is enraged by this, and charges at Braixen. But before she can hit her, Grovyle wraps Gourgeist with Vine Whip, before throwing her around. By the time he's finished, Gourgeist has fainted.
Both Sarah and Sam return their pokémon, glaring at the two of them as they do. "You may have beaten us in a battle," Sarah tells them. "But that doesn't mean we're going to let you go!" At this, the two begin to advance on them. "Eh Max," says Bonnie, "what now?" Max shrugs. "I don't know," he admits. "I honestly hoped that our battle would somehow blast them away." Both Sarah and Sam glare at them even more. "How many times do we have to tell you!" they shout. "We are not Team Rocket!" At this, they charge towards them. But in their haste, they failed to notice the second trap they'd laid. The pair are both snagged and hoisted into the air, just like Max was. Both Max and Bonnie laugh their heads off at this classic case of karma.
Then, they recall their pokémon and begin to set off. "Hey!" Sarah calls. "Don't just leave us here!" Bonnie is about to tell them to sod off, because they had done this to Max. But Max holds his hand up. "No, she's right," he says, pulling Grovyle's pokéball out again. "It wouldn't be fair to leave them like that." Then, he sends out Grovyle, and orders him to use Vine Whip. Grovyle's vines wrap around the two agents, and begin to pull them down. Too late do they realise what Max is planning. But before they can even beg him to stop, Max orders Grovyle to let go. Grovyle does so, sending the pair hurtling through the air. As they disappear on the horizon, both Max and Bonnie call out, "Looks like Team Terra's blasting off again!" Then, they laugh their heads off, before Max recalls Grovyle again, and they resume their journey.
So, looks like some things never change huh? I had a lot of fun setting that up, so I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did writing it. I also hope you don't grow too bored with them too quickly, as they aren't going away at the end of the first half like they did in Kalos. They're going to be doggedly hunting our heroes throughout the whole Volume. But that's not something you need to worry about just yet. Thanks again for sticking with my story, and here's to another year of this fic!