Welcome to the penultimate chapter of Hoenn. This is more of a setup chapter, and as a result will be a bit short. There isn't a lot to cover, but I need a way to simmer the situation down enough for Max and Bonnie to move onto the next region. Not completely simmer out, because I still need tension, but I can't let this volume end on too high tension, because the 2 week break I'm going to take will completely ruin that. Yes, once chapter 98 is out, I will be taking a two week break again. But that's not until tomorrow. For now, let's get on with chapter.
Chapter 97:
Follow You Into Fire
The 6 of them return to Petalburg to find Norman and Caroline waiting for them, looking very cross. As they all land down, Norman glares at May, and seems to be ready to tell her off. But, May simply jumps off Ash's Charizard, she immediately hugs her father, tears in her eyes. Norman's anger dissipates immediately as he hugs her back. "It's alright dear," he says. "It's ok. Are you alright?" May nods, though she's still clearly upset. While Norman comforts May, Caroline runs to check on Max. "Are you alright?" she asks him. Max nods despondently. "What happened?" Norman asks the two of them. May let's go of her father just then and releases Blaziken. "I'm going to check on Brendan," she says, before turning to Max. "You explain." Then, she takes off.
It takes a bit of time, but they manage to catch everyone up on the events of Larousse. During the explanation, Dawn and Zoey arrive, followed by Clemont, Korrina, and Meyer a few minutes later, meaning they have to go through the events twice more. Everyone is shocked by this revelation. "So, what happens now?" Dawn asks. Everyone shrugs. "Who knows," Drew replies. "But things won't be good for Hoenn, that's for certain." Norman nods. "With a man like Brodie as our Champion, there's no telling what could happen." The mood becomes very somber then. It's only broken by the sound of someone landing outside the house. Suddenly May comes into the house.
"How's Brendan?" Korrina asks. "He's in bad shape but will recover," May replies without stopping. "He'll be hospitalised for some time apparently." Caroline's hands fly to her mouth at this, while Ash gets to his feet. "Which hospital were he and Steven taken to?" he asks. "I can heal them!" May is about to take him there, when Dawn steps in his way. "Woah, woah, woah," she says. "You can't go on about how you want to keep Aura a secret if you're going to pull stuff like that. If you go in there and heal them, that will raise suspicion. Which will make people aware of your Aura." Ash thinks about this, then swears. "You're right, you're right," he says.
While this conversation happens, Max turns to his sister to check up on her, but she's nowhere to be seen. He looks around, and spots her outside with her Pokémon. In the dead of night. Training for something that's a full year away? Yeah, that's unlikely. "Uh, May's acting weird," he points out. Everyone turns to look at her. Seeing her like this, Ash scratches his chin in thought, which is a weird sight to see in Max's opinion. "She's doing the opposite of what I did," he comments. "I kept ruminating on what I did in Kalos, and you saw what that did to me. So, she's trying to keep her mind busy, so that she doesn't end up ruminating."
With that said, he moves towards the door, but Drew gets in his way. "Where are you going?" he asks. "To talk to her," Ash replies. "I know what she's going through, so I can help her." Drew shakes his head. "No offence meant by this," he says, "but all of us, her included, spent over half a year trying to get you to accept that what happened wasn't your fault. And now, you want to go out there and and tell her exactly what we've been telling you for 6 months?" Ash thinks about it for a second, then blushes. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he replies, rubbing the back of his head. Drew sighs, then turns towards the door. "I'll go out and talk to her," he says. "I reckon the rest of you should head to bed, it's getting late." Everyone else nods and gathers their things while Drew steps outside.
He finds May with her Blaziken and Beautifly, training together. A she approaches, he hears her panting heavily. Just as he walks up right behind her, he sees her stumble a bit from fatigue, then begin to fall backwards. "Whoa there," says Drew as he rushes forward to catch her. "I think that's enough." May shakes her head. "No, it's not," she says. "I want to get this right. For the next contest." "May you can barely stand," Drew argues. "And your Pokémon look half dead. I think you should take it easy." May shakes her head again, and is about to argue that she can't, when Drew takes her shoulders.
"Look at me," he says. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to keep your mind occupied so that you don't think about Shelly. Well, let me tell you something that you spent over 6 months telling Ash. That wasn't your fault!" May stares at him for a few seconds, tears in her eyes. "Yes it was," she says. "Because I didn't just knock her off the building. I also blew her up!" "By accident," Drew reiterates. "You didn't push the button on purpose did you? It happened during the recoil." May nods, but doesn't look convinced. "The thing is," she says, "I saw it coming. I probably could've stopped it if I wanted to, but I didn't."
Drew pulls her into a hug at this. "I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't know that." May shakes her head. "It's alright," she replies. "I never told you." Drew nods, deepening the hug. "We'll get through this," he tells her. "It may take some time, but I'll help you get over it. Just please, don't overwork yourself to the point of exhaustion just to shut those thoughts up." May nods, openly crying now. "Thank you Drew," she says. "Thank you." The young couple stay like that for another 5 minutes, before Drew finally leads May back into the house, after she returns her team to their balls, and they head to bed.
As Max awakens the next morning, he truly believes that nothing could ever top last night in terms of shittiness. Never in all his life is he proven so wrong, so fast. He and his family, along with Drew, wake up roughly around the same time. When they do, May apologises for how she behaved last night. Her family are quick to forgive her, and then they get on with making breakfast. As they do, the Citrons, including Korrina, arrive, with Dawn and Zoey showing up not long after. They all gather round the Maple's table for a hearty breakfast, before moving on to the topic of what to do now that Brodie will become Hoenn's champion.
It is while they're talking that Norman decides to turn the tv on. When he does, a news report of the attack on Larousse appears on the screen. Everyone shuts up and watches it. "A terrible tragedy strikes the region as our capital city of Larousse was attacked last night," says the news woman. "In a unprecedented move, Team Terra laid siege to the city. The region's champion, and adopted son of the resident Pokémon professor, Brendan Birch, along with former champion Steven Stone, were severely wounded in the battle tower, and have been taken to a hospital on the mainland. The reason for this large attack, is still unknown."
"The prime suspect in this attack is one of the Admins of Team Terra, known only as Bannai. It is unclear what his motives are, and he probably would've ended up murdering our champion, had it not been for a young boy and girl, Max Maple, and Bonnie Citron." At that moment, the image on the screen changes, showing the two of them jumping out of the window with Brendan, before summoning their flying Pokémon. Then, Max swoops down into a lower part of the tower, returning a few minutes later with Steven. At that, the image cuts back to the presenter, who carries on the report.
"With our current champion out of the picture, a young man has stepped forward, claiming that Brendan conceded the title to him in the hospital while he recovers. While we have no evidence to back this claim up, nurses have reported that he did visit the champion in the hospital. This young man is former Phantom Thief and Team Magma member Brodie. There are many people who are sceptical about his story, but we now go live to a press conference in Larousse, where he hopes to adress these issues."
At that, the image changes again, showing Brodie standing in front of a podium outside of the Battle Tower. He's no longer in his Team Terra uniform, but now regular clothes. His arm is in a sling, which Max can't help but feel slightly satisfied at that. "Looks like you broke his hand with that pulse," he says to Bonnie. Like Max, Bonnie can't help but look a little satisfied too. But then, Brodie starts speaking, and the two of them return their attention to the screen. "Team Terra's outrageous attack cannot stand!" he says. "To go after our champion is a terrible crime, that I will not let stand! I promise you, that I will not rest until I have uncovered the perpetrator! To do that, I will need the help of the young boy spotted saving Brendan, Max Maple." Everyone in the room looks at Max at this, who gets a really bad feeling about this.
"It is clear from the footage of the incident that he had to have been there during the attack. I'm not saying that he should've done something about this. Look what this Bannai did to Brendan. And he's 16. Hell, look what he did to me when I tried to confront him on my way up the tower." He raises his broken arm to prove his point, then carries on. "The point I want to make is this. Max Maple managed to see what happened up there, so Bannai hit him with confusion during his escape, to make him believe whoever replaces Brendan was the one to attack the tower. I learnt as much from my encounter with Bannai. I have the means to learn the culprit's identity, but to do that, I need Max Maple. And because of this attack, plus our past meetings, he won't trust me!"
At this, Brodie gestures to the crowd with his good arm. "This is where you come in!" he announces to everyone. "I'm going to need your help to track down Max Maple! If you find him, bring him to me, and we will be able to uncover the truth. But, if finding out what happened to our champion isn't enticing enough, I'm also offering 100,000 PokéYen to whoever bring Maple to me!" There's uproarious applause at this, as Brodie soaks it in. "And worry not," he finishes, "Once Brendan has recovered, I will gladly step down and grant him his rightful place." With that, Brodie waves at cheering crowd, before stepping inside the battle tower.
With that, the image changes back to the news reporter. "Though he only announced this mere seconds ago, it seems that people have already begun hunting for this boy. And it seems they aren't the only ones. We have been getting reports of Team Terra Agents spotted around ports and airports. It seems that they too are looking for this boy." At this point, Norman switches the TV off. Everyone stares at the blank screen, processing what they just witnessed. After a few moments, Max says, "I can't stay here, can I?" Norman and Caroline shake their heads. "No, I don't think you can," says his father. "We need to get you out of here." "But where can he go?" Caroline asks.
"Well, Bonnie and I were planning on going to Johto next," says Max. "Maybe I can go there?" His parents think about this. "The problem with that is that we have no family or friends in Johto," says Norman. "Well, I know some people in Johto," says Ash. "But I'm not sure they'd be particularly pleased with taking him in indefinitely." With that, they all go back to thinking about where Max can go. Eventually, Ash thinks of something. "What about Kanto?" he asks. "My mum lives there, I'd say she'll be happy to take you in." Max smiles at this. "That's perfect," he says, settling the matter. For him at least. There's still a matter unresolved.
"What about me?" Bonnie asks. Meyer and Clemont look at her. "Well that part's obvious," says Meyer. "You're coming home with us." Bonnie looks outraged. "No!" she exclaims. "What do you mean no?" Clemont asks. "I mean, I'm not going back to Kalos!" Bonnie replies angrily. "I'm going to Kanto with Max!" Meyer and Clemont look like they want to argue, but Korrina speaks up first. "Actually, she's not wrong," she says. "Team Terra know that she and Max are best friends. I'd say they'll be monitoring Lumiose carefully. If they find her, they can use her as bait to get him." Bonnie nods at this, but Meyer and Clemont remain unconvinced. "Well, I can always have people keeping an eye on her at all times," Meyer replies. Clemont nods.
Bonnie stamps her foot at this. "No!" she exclaims again. "I'm going to Kanto with Max, and that's final!" she turns to Clemont at this. "How would you feel if it was Korrina who got sent away, and you were told you couldn't join her. Would you be ok with that?" Clemont opens his mouth to respond, but Bonnnie cuts him off. "And don't tell me that it's different! Aside from the fact that Max and I are just friends, you'd be acting exactly like me in this situation!" Clemont sighs. "You're right," he says. "This isn't fair on you. You can go." Seeing his eldest child accept this, Meyer relents.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Max asks. "Because we'll be stuck in Kanto for who knows how long. I don't want you to have to deal with that just because I am." Bonnie lightly knocks him over the head. "Don't be stupid," she says. "I'd follow you into fire! We're best friends after all." She holds her fist out. Max smiles and bumps it with his. "Of course we are!" he replies. "We always will be." With that settled, next comes the question of how they get out of the region. "With every single way out blocked off, that's going to be damn near impossible," says Dawn. "We might need outside help to do it." At this, Ash sits up. "We do, actually!" he exclaims. "I know some people who can get them out of here." "Really?" May asks. "Who?" Ash winces at this. "The thing is," he says cautiously, "you aren't going to like it."
So, that turned out to be longer than I thought it would. Now, with one chapter left, Max and Bonnie must make a daring escape to Kanto! Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to them going to Johto, that's not happening for a while. For now, what's Ash's plan? Find out either tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on when I release the final chapter of Volume 2!