So, I'm writing this from my new job, meaning this will probably be a short one, as I won't have a lot of time to write this, unlike before. Also, I need to update this from my phone, so expect plenty of mistakes. Anyway, as you can see, I've shortened Dewford by quite a bit, because that shit was way too long in the anime. But enough talking, here's the chapter.
Chapter 19:
Riding a Wave of Victory
At last, the Dewford Island Gym is in sight. Max is quite relieved to see it, as he remembers how long it took them to reach it the second time after Ash's first defeat. Bonnie begins running over to it, when she stops and sees the ferry dock they got off at. "Are you serious!?" she exclaims. "The Gym is right next to the place we got off the boat!?" "You wanted to train up first didn't you?" May tells her. "Not to mention we were being chased by Team Terra." Bonnie nods. "I suppose so," she agrees. Then, she turns to Max. "You know the way to the Gym right?" Max nods and leads the way there.
The gym turns out to be on a cliff overlooking the water. They reached the door, only to find that it's closed. "Why's it closed?!" Bonnie complains. "Maybe Brawly is down at the beach," May hypothesises. "He's a surfer in his spare time, so he's probably out doing that right now." So, they turn around and head back down to the beach. Sure enough, when they get there, a large crowd has gathered along the shore, all watching as a young man with light blue hair surfs a large wave with a Hariyama. There are others in the water too, but most of the attention of the crowd is on Brawly, the guy with the Hariyama. Everyone watches as the two of them come ashore, with some applause. "I'm guessing that's Brawly?" Bonnie asks. Max nods in confirmation. Without another word, Bonnie runs up to him, pulling out one of her pokéballs. "Gym Leader Brawly!" she announces, Before Max can stop her, "I challenge you to a Gym battle!"
No one says anything at first. Max can't help but cringe slightly. Bonnie meanwhile suddenly looks like she wants the sand to swallow her up. But Brawly just smiles at her. "We'll, aren't you eager?" he says, chuckling slightly. Bonnie's determined expression, which had slowly begun to slip during the silence, comes back on at full force. "Yep," she says. "I'm eager to beat you and earn my second badge!" Brawly chuckles again. "I'm sure you are," he replies. "Unfortunately, that won't be possible." Bonnie looks suddenly worried. "What!? Why!?" she asks. "Because I've retired as the Gym Leader of Dewford," Brawly explains. "I've been nothing but a full time surfer these passed few months." Both Max and May are surprised to hear this. "So who's the new Gym Leader then?" Drew asks.
But before Brawly can answer, Max feels his bag being pulled away from him. Instinctively, he whirls around and releases Grovyle, who slices through the fishing rod that had hooked around his bag. Then, the five of them glare at none other than Sarah and Sam, who look quite annoyed to see that their plan failed. "I told you that won't work twice!" Sam yells. "It's not like you had a better idea!" Sarah counters. "Eh, who are these two?" Brawly asks. "Thieves," Max replies. "These idiots have been trying to steal from me for months." Brawly glares at them at this. "I can't stand thieves," he says, before pointing at them. "Hariyama, Bullet Punch!" Hariyama's fists rain down on Sarah and Sam, who skedaddle away before the attack hits. But, they're so focused on avoiding Hariyama's attacks, they fail to notice another surfer coming in. The surfer collides with them, knocking them over. The surfer is a girl who looks about 20 years old, with dark blue hair and brown eyes, dressed in a short-sleeved wetsuit.
"Nice timing Shauna!" Brawly calls as he and the others run up to her. Sarah and Sam are left dazed, buried under a small pile of sand. "Everyone, this is my former apprentice Shauna," says Brawly, indicating to her. "She's the new Dewford Gym Leader." Shauna looks at each of the, her eyes staying on May and Max. "I remember you!" she exclaims. "You two travelled with Ash 5 years ago, back when I first became Brawly's apprentice!" The Maple Siblings nod, remembering that too. "So, I suppose one of you is looking for a Gym Battle?" Shauna asks. "I am!" Bonnie exclaims, shooting her arm up in the air. Shauna laughs at this. "Well then, let's head up to the Gym," she tells her. "But you'll need to wait a bit, I want to change clothes first." Bonnie practically jumps for joy and starts running off towards the Gym. "Bonnie wait for us!" Max calls, as he and the others run after her. Brawly stays behind to make sure Sarah and Sam get handed over to Officer Jenny.
When they arrive back at the Gym, Bonnie runs into the main arena while Max, May and Drew stand to the side. After 10 minutes of waiting, Shauna entered the Gym, dressed in a magenta crop top and matching magenta shorts. Brawly arrives not long after, informing them that Sarah and Sam had been carted off to jail. With that out of the way, it's time for Bonnie's second Gym Battle in Hoenn. Brawly picks up the ref flags and lists off the rules of the battle. Once he's done, he asks if both challengers are ready, to which both Bonnie and Shauna say that they are. "Then, battle begin!" Brawly shouts. At this, Shauna sends out a Machop, while Bonnie sends out Braixen. Their battle starts with Machop charging at Braixen with Arm Thrust. Braixen dodges the attacks, then fights back with Psybeam. It strikes Machop in the chest, knocking it down. Machop manages to get back up, then rains Bullet Punch down on Braixen, who isn't able to dodge them in time. However, these punches don't do much to her due to her type advantage, so she brushes them off, then blasts them away with Psyshock. Then, Braixen rushes in with Psyshock again. It strikes Machop right in its centre. It's thrown backwards into the wall, which knocks it out pretty quickly.
"Machop is unable to battle!" Brawly declares. "Gym Leader Shauna is down to her last pokémon!" Shauna smiles this, then pulls out her next pokéball. "Not many people are able to beat my ace," she says. "It's gotten to the point where I have to use a weaker pokémon in his stead. But you beat Machop so easily, so I think you're strong enough give him a challenge. Medicham, let's go!" Max swallows nervously. "Bonnie, Medicham is a Psychic-Fighting type!" he warns. Bonnie curses, then begins thinking of a way around this. Max had come up with a plan for her, but it was based off of Brawly's team, not Shauna's. So, thinking quickly, she orders Braixen to use Flame Charge. Braixen fills her body with fire and charges at Medicham. But before she can strike him. Medicham teleports to the other side of the arena. Then, he uses High Jump Kick, striking Braixen in the back. Braixen falls to her knees, but doesn't go down. Instead, she spins around and launches Flamethrower at Medicham. Medicham isn't quick enough to dodge the attack, or so Bonnie thinks. But in actual fact, Medicham takes the hit, then strikes back with a powerful Force Palm. It hits Braixen dead on, and knocks her out.
"Braixen is unable to battle!" Brawly shouts. "Challenger Bonnie is down to her last pokémon!" Bonnie begins to panic a little bit. She only has 2 pokémon left, one of which isn't fully evolved, and the other is a rather small one. However, the latter can Mega Evolve. Settling on this decision, she sends out Dedenne. Then, she raises her right arm and touches the stone on a wristband. "Dedenne, Mega Evolve!" she shouts. As Dedenne does so, Shauna smirks a little bit, which makes Max nervous. "Be careful Bonnie," he warns. "Medicham can-" But before he can finish his sentence, Shauna lifts up her own arm. "Well now, this is interesting," she says. "If that's how you want to play, then why don't we make this more interesting." Then, she touches a stone on her own wrist. "Can also Mega Evolve" Max finishes, worry in his voice. Now, there are two Mega Evolved pokémon on the field. Bonnie clenches her fist at this, but takes a calming breath, and thinks about her next move. "Dedenne, Spark!" she orders. Dedenne rushes forth, but Medicham teleports out of the way. Medicham sends a Psybeam at Dedenne, but he dodges it too. A back and forth proceeds between the two of them, with both of them dodging every attack thrown at them.
This is finally stopped when Dedenne, who's beginning to tire, finally lands a Nuzzle on Medicham, which causes him to be paralysed. Dedenne uses the opportunity to use Play Rough a few times, severely weakening him. Then, he uses Thunderbolt, but Medicham is able to overcome paralysis and dodge it, before hitting Dedenne with Psyshock. Dedenne is weakened by the attack, but goes for one more Play Rough. Medicham readies to Teleport out of the way, but suddenly freezes up from paralysis, allowing Dedenne to strike him with the attack, and knock him out.
"Medicham is unable to battle!" Brawly announces. "Making Challenger Bonnie the winner of this battle!" Bonnie practically screams with delight and picks up Dedenne, spinning him around before hugging him tightly. Max, May and Drew join her and congratulate her. Shauna approaches her, clapping. She'd returned Medicham and thanked him, telling him that they will do a bit more training. "I must say, you are the first person this season to beat Medicham while he was Mega Evolved," she tells Bonnie. "I'm truly impressed. To show you how impressed I am, I present you with this." Then, she holds out The Knuckle Badge. Bonnie takes it excitedly, then thanks Shauna excitedly. The four of them bid farewell to her and Brawly, and exit the Gym. "So Max, where's the next Gym?" Bonnie asks. May is about to answer that their next destination is Mauville for the Electric type Gym. But before she can say that, Max says, "Actually, I was hoping we could go to Slateport first." At this, Drew grins. "Ah, so you want to go so I can enter this contest?" he asks. "Nope," Max replies. "I want to enter it." All three of them stare at him. "Really?" May asks. Max shrugs. "Why not?" he asks. "When we watched the contest in Rustboro, I thought it could be fun to enter one myself." May nods in understanding, as that's how she got interested as well. But, as they're working out their route to Slateport, Bonnie quietly asks him, "It's also because you want to beat Harley isn't it?" Max goes red, but says nothing.
Yeah, that was a random way of ending it I know, but I couldn't think of how to do it any other way. Now, be warned that at any moment, this schedule could slow right the fuck down at any point, due to me adjusting to my new job. If it does, I'm sorry for that. Now, I do have a plan for the next chapter, but I don't have the same amount of time to work on it as I have previously, and as a result, the next chapter might suck. But let's hope it doesn't. See you in two days (hopefully) for that.