So I'm going to reveal something in this chapter that I meant to in the previous volume, but I couldn't figure out how to work it in. In a similar fashion to the coming out chapter in Children of Thieves, this may or may not end up going quite poorly, and I would like to apologise in advance for that. But other than that, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 15:
Twice the Trouble
When the boat finally docks at Dewford, Max and Bonnie practically race off of it with Bonnie heading straight to the nearest Pokémon Centre to find out where she can find the gym. But before she can get very far, May grabs her shoulder, while Drew grabs Max. "Hold on there," May tells her. "Before you go and challenge Brawly, perhaps you should make sure your team is up to snuff." Bonnie wants to argue that her team is more than ready to challenge the gym,but then she remembers what happened the last time she got overconfident. So, she nods in agreement, then looks at Max. "Any idea where we can find a field full of pokémon for me to train at?" she asks him. At this, Max nods his head. "I do remember something like that being here," he says, releasing himself from Drew's grip and pulling out his Nav. "Hang on let me check."
He scrolls through it for a few minutes and taps somethings on the screen, before his face lights up. "Found it!" he exclaims, turning towards one of the pathways. "There's a field this way that's perfect for training up your team. Maybe you can find another pokémon as well." Bonnie nods ecstatically at this and starts running off in the direction Max indicated. "Hey Bonnie wait!" Max calls, running after her. "You don't know the way!" May and Drew look at each other, laugh, then run after the pair. They catch up with the two kids just as Max manages to overtake Bonnie. When he does, the two slow down and walk, panting and laughing as they do. May can't help but smile at the sight as she and Drew catch up with them. As much as she teases him about it, she's happy that her little brother has managed to find love. Even if he won't admit it.
As they head along the path towards the field Max found on his Nav, they end up walking past a small beach. The four of them catch sight of the beach, and they freeze. The Mecha Sharpedo they destroyed is marooned on it, and two figures are coming out of the eyes. Debbie and Cooper. The two of them fall to the sand, then look up and spot the four of them. Their faces become flushed with anger and they enter the mouth of the ruined Sharpedo. Not wanting to find out what they're planning, Max starts running down the path away from them. Liking his idea, the other 3 follow after him. As they run, Max begins to think they may outrun them, he hears a blast echo from behind, followed by a small explosion overhead. Quick as a flash, May summons Blaziken and has him kick away the rocks that have begun to fall from above. Turning around, they see Debbie and Cooper running after them, clutching the guns that Team Terra wielded during the Second Kalos Crisis.
The 2 criminals start shooting again, and Max and his companions barely have time to avoid the bullets. As they manage to dodge the latest onslaught of rocks and lasers, Bonnie gets a risky idea. "Max, lead May and Drew on to the field, I'll stall them!" she says. "How do you plan on doing that?" Drew asks. "If anything, it's may or me who needs to stall them." At this, Bonnie lets Dedenne out of her bag and releases Nuzleaf and Braixen. "But my pokémon are better suited for stall tactics!" she argues. Drew looks like he wants to continue arguing, but Bonnie locks eyes with Max, and he quickly realises what she's planning. "Let's go!" he says. "Let her try. If it fails, then we come back and help!" May and Drew don't look very sure, but they decide to trust Bonnie, and follow Max away from the oncoming agents. Once they're out of sight, Bonnie returns her pokémon to their balls, and Dedenne to her bag. Then, she turns to face Debbie and Cooper. Once she sees them coming, she raises her hand, and concentrates all of her Aura into her palm. She lets out a huge Aura Pulse that causes Debbie and Cooper to fly backwards, and for a few rocks to fall in between them and Bonnie. Bonnie feels the fatigue of using that move and slumps over. But she quickly forces herself to recover and runs after the others.
By the time he re-joins them, they're nearly at the field. "Wow, you must've sprinted to be that tired" Drew jokes. In order to cover herself up to Drew, she just nods in agreement. Trying to change the subject less Drew gets suspicious, Max tells them that they're almost at the field, and they should be able to lose Debbie and Cooper there. But as they start running, they run into even more trouble. Sarah and Sam appear out of a bush and tackle Max to the ground, trying to wrestle his backpack off of his back. May rushes forwards and kicks them off of him. As Max scrambles to his feet, Sarah and Sam stare at him cockily. "I suppose you're wondering how we found you?" Sarah asks. "Not really," Max replies. "I'm just wondering how long it's going to take before we send you flying." The 2 agents glare at him. "I'll admit, I'm impressed with this pincer movement," May tells them. "But can you guys just leave him alone?"
At this, both agents look incredibly confused. "Pincer movement?" Sam asks. "What pincer movement?" At that moment, a laser is shot between where Sarah and Sam, and Max are standing. Everyone turns to see Debbie and Cooper approaching. At the sight of the two approaching agents, Sarah gets a look of deepest loathing, while Sam has one of hatred mixed in with... is that nerves? Max thinks as he sees them. Debbie and Cooper lock eyes with Sarah and Sam, and evil smirks appears on their faces. "Well, well, well," says Cooper, "if it isn't Sarah and Samantha!" Sarah flushes red with anger at this. "His name is Sam and you fucking know that!" She moves to smack both of them across the face, but Sam grabs her arm before she can. "Leave it," he says, though he looks very affected by their words. "They're not worth it." Sarah looks at her partner, then back at Debbie and Cooper. Then, she sighs and drops her hand, at which point Sam lets go of her. "If you're sure" she tells him. "As much as we'd like catch up with you ladies," Debbie tells them. "We're in the middle of extracting those notebooks from Maple. So, if you'd just get out of our way and let us continue, that would be swell." Sam glares daggers at her at this. "Actually, that's what we were doing until you got in our way!" he says. "So, why don't you bugger off and let us get on with it!"
Cooper is about to argue back, when he notices something. The other 3 notice it too. Max, Bonnie, May and Drew are no longer there. They used the time while the four Team Terra agents were arguing to sneak away. The four of them glare at each other, then run after their targets. Meanwhile, Max and the others have almost made it to the field when they hear the sounds of fast paced footsteps coming their way. "Damn!" says May, before they all turn to face the oncoming threat. Sarah, Sam, Debbie and Cooper are running over to them as fast as possible, each of them holding a pokéball in their hands. "Silcoon go!" Sam calls. "Come out Oddish!" shouts Sarah. "Let's go, Pelliper!" Debbie exclaims. "Altaria, prepare for battle!" Cooper yells. In response, Max sends out Wingull, Bonnie sends out Dedenne, May sends out Snorlax, and Drew sends out Flygon. The eight of them start to battle, but it becomes clear that the agents of Team Terra are more interested in battling each other than their opponents. So, Max, May, Bonnie and Drew take the opportunity to subtly withdraw their pokémon from the battle and slip away from the carnage. By the time the Team Terra agents realise they're not there anymore, they've already made it to the field in question and hidden themselves in the long grass.
Team Terra run over to the field and begin to try to search for them, but no such luck. "I can't believe we lost them because of you!?" Sam yells at the other duo. "Us!?" Debbie demands. "You're the ones who got in our way!" "That's because you got in our way first!" Sarah shouts. "If you hadn't interrupted us, we could've gotten Maple by now!" "That 's not true!" Cooper argues. "We almost had them before you distracted us!" They continue to argue for a while, before coming to a stop, when Sarah declares that she has an idea. "How about this?" she says. "We make a competition. Whichever of us is able to steal the notebook from Maple first before he leaves Dewford Island is the better of the two!" Debbie and Cooper think about this, before they agree. "Very well," Cooper says. "We accept. We'll see you two ladies back at the base, after we've obtained Maple's knowledge." They laugh at this, before heading off to search for him and the others. Sarah and Sam stay behind while Sarah comforts Sam after what Debbie and Cooper said about him, then they go off to do their own searching.
So yeah, I'm making Sam a transman. I probably could've handled that with a bit more tact, and I'm very sorry if that's the case. I hinted at him being Trans in the first volume, and wanted to properly reveal it then, but I couldn't think of a good way to adding it without it feeling forced. Also, that competition between the two duos was come up with on the spot because I couldn't think of a way to end this chapter. I don't know what else to add here, so I'll see you all on Thursday for the next chapter.