Here is part 2 of the Slateport Tremor. Most, if not all of this was supposed to be in the last chapter, but I completely ran out of the momentum needed to keep writing, so I stopped it there. But now, I shall continue this part. This might be quite a short chapter by the way, as I don't have enough a lot to cover so far. But I may get a few more ideas as I go.
Chapter 22:
Disaster's Aftermath
The Tremor lasts for another 10 minutes before finally subsiding. Luckily, not too much damage was done, all things considered. A total of only 5 buildings were actually knocked down. The rest received only minor damage. Not to mention, no lives were lost in the chaos, which can only be a good thing. There are still several casualties however, both human and pokémon. The Nurse Joy of the city, as well as other doctors and volunteers, are kept busy by all of the injured that need treating. Max stares at all of the carnage, and can't help but feel a little bit guilty, though he has no idea why. He feels like his brain is currently wracking itself, thinking, "Must find way to blame myself." "Shut up brain!" Max grumbles under his breath, hoping no one hears him.
He decides to take a walk while he waits for Bonnie to wake up. The doctor had already cleared her, saying that she was just knocked out, but otherwise completely fine. He couldn't work out how she got knocked out however, but Max had expected as much. It seems that normal machines are unable to detect Aura. Besides, Max has another reason for wanting to walk around. Ever since that rocket destroyed the building and allowed him and the others to escape, he's felt like someone has been watching him. Grinning to himself, he stands up and starts walking away from the crowd. "Where are you going?" May asks him when she spots him leaving. "To check something," Max replies simply. "I'll be back soon." He pulls out his unfunished notebook and hands it to May discreetly, before walking into the forest.
As he walks further away from the victims of the Tremor, he feels that he is being followed. Smirking to himself, he continues walking, glad to know his instincts are correct. After walking for nearly 5 minutes, Max stops. Not turning around, he calls back, "You can stop hiding now! I know you're there!" With grunts of annoyance, Sarah and Sam step out of the shadows. "How did you know we were there?" Sam asks. Max laughs. "With all of the times you lot have chased me, I guess I've developed eyes on the back of my head" he replies. Both Team Terra agents roll there eyes. "So, why not call us out then?" Sarah asks. "Why lead us away from the crowd?" Max shrugs. "Because I want to thank you" he says simply. Both Sarah and Sam stare at him as though he'd just spoken a dead language. "Thank us?" Sarah asks. "For what?" Max shrugs again. "You fired the rocket at the falling building, and saved me and my friends," he points out. "I figured I owed you a thank you for that. So, thanks."
Sarah and Sam stare at him for a few seconds, before shaking their heads and brushing him off. "Oh, we didn't do that for you," Sam tells him. "We did that so that those fools who launched the Tremor don't get all the credit for bringing in your notebook." Max can't help but laugh a bit at this. "If that's the case, why not just take the notebook from me right now?" he asks. "I'm alone, and it's two against one." Both agents sweat drop a little bit, before Sarah checks her wrist, as though she's looking at a watch. "Oh look at the time! We'd best be off!" she says quickly. "You can keep that book for now Maple, but know that we'll be back for it!" Then, they depart quickly, hoping that Max doesn't notice bashful smiles on their faces. Max does notice them however, and chuckles, before returning to his friends and sister.
It doesn't take Bonnie long to recover her strength again. When she's back to normal, May goes off back into Slateport City, to get more footage for her warning. Drew decides to go with her, while Max and Bonnie stay behind with the rest of the people of Slateport who are recovering. All those who are able-bodied head back in as well, in order to begin clearing up the mess and rebuilding the City. It comes as no surprise to anyone when Nurse Joy announces that the Slateport Contest has been cancelled. Max is disappointed to hear this, but not surprised. It would be in poor taste to hold a contest right after the City got attacked. While they wait for May and Drew to return, Max tells Bonnie about his encounter with Sarah and Sam in the forest. Despite how annoying they are, Bonnie can't help but laugh at their pitiful attempt at hiding how much Max's gratitude pleased them. "Do you think this will finally get them to atop chasing us?" Bonnie asks. Max can't help but laugh at this. "Not at all," he says. "I have the feeling they're going to be just as annoyingly persistent as ever." Bonnie agrees with him, commenting that a girl can dream.
As it turns out, May doesn't need to finish making her video warning of the Tremor. As she and Drew return from the ruined city, a news crew spots them and runs over to her. At first, she's annoyed by this, as she, like Ash, has a great dislike of journalists and paparazzi. There's a reason why she and Ash like to call them vultures. But as thry start asking questions, she realises that she can use them to her advantage. So, she pulls up the video and photos she took of the first Tremor almost two weeks ago. "If you don't mind," she says, interrupting the reporter in the middle of her slew of questions, "I'd like to say a few things about this event." The reporter looks a bit miffed at being interrupted, but she acquiesces and hands the microphone over to May. May thanks her, then turns her attention to the camera. "People of Hoenn!" she says seriously. "I have some grave news that I must share with you..."
All over Hoenn, TVs are turned to one news channel as word quickly spreads across the Internet that Top Coordinator May Maple is making an announcement. Everyone pays rapt attention to the various screens as her message is relayed across the region. "As you can see, I am standing outside of Slateport, which has just been destroyed by the villainous organisation known as Team Terra, the group responsible for the Tremors that occured in Hoenn last year," she says, her words echoing across the region. "Well, as you can see, this threat hasn't gone away. They have since returned, and are using their Tremors once more." Gasps of worry and fear fill the region at this revelation. However, there are a few who aren't quite sure if this is true. Some believe this to be merely a once off attack. However, it's as if May developed the ability to read minds. "I know some of you may doubt what I'm saying, and believe this to be a one-time ordeal," she warns. "But I warn you, this has already happened once before. I have video and photographic evidence of the outcome of a Tremor that my little brother and his friend were caught in."
Back at Slateport, May pulls out her phone and goes to show it to the camera. However, the cameraman pulls out a wire and explains that her phone screen will be too small for the audience to properly see it. So, May plugs her phone into the wire, then the cameraman attaches the wire to his camera. From there, May's video is shown to all of Hoenn. As everyone watches, she walks along a destroyed path, with cracks and gaps that mirror the ones in Slateport. This disaster had also been reported on the news, but it had been attributed to a large gathering of Diglett and Dugtrio passing through at once. But now that they see it again, they realise how wrong they were. Once the video is finished, May unpluggs her phone, then resumes speaking. "Now, we don't know what Team Terra want this time," she says. "But whatever it is, we can't let them have it. These attacks cannot be allowed to return to the frequency at which they were last year. But now that they have returned, everyone must be extremely careful. Walk with one pokémon out of their ball at all times, so that they can properly warn you of the danger! As for Team Terra, why rely on tactics like this? I challenge you to come out and tell us exactly what you want! Unless you're too cowardly to do so!"
May looks like she wants to continue insulting them, but Drew interrupts her before she can. "I think you've said enough now!" he exclaims. "How about we don't piss off the eco terrorist group with the power to tear a region apart, shall we!" As he says this, he turns to the camera. "Do excuse my Kalosian" he adds, before dragging May away. After that, the reporter moved on to other residence of Slateport, asking them how they felt about the atrocity. All of then share the same thought. "Team Terra should say what they want, rather than using the Tremors, and causing harm to Hoenn and its people and pokémon." They all hope that, by saying the group is doing harm, it might convince them to stop the Tremors.
After her message was broadcasted across the region, May and Drew decide to part ways with Max and Bonnie. May figures that she's going to be hounded by reporters over the next few days, and Drew wants to get ready for his first contest, and doesn't want to squash Max's chances of winning too soon. Max sneers at him, but laughs it off as well. "We'll, it was nice travelling with you!" Bonnie tells them. "Hope you finally get together soon!" Drew goes bright red at this and starts sputtering, but May simply smiles at her. "I hope the same for you two" she replies. At this, Bonnie goes bright red, as does Max. However, he quickly notices something. "So, you admit that you like each other!" he exclaims triumphantly. May realises how that sounded and joins Drew in sputtering for a second. "Shut up!" she responds. Max and Bonnie laugh, and soon May and Drew join in. Then, May and Drew set off. Bonnie wants to head off too, bit Max points out that she's still too weak to travel,so they spend the night in their tents outside of Slateport, both of them wondering what brought about this attack.
The next morning, as Max and Bonnie are preparing to leave, they find out that the Champion of Hoenn, Brendan, has made a public announcement in response to May's. Once they've finished packing, Max pulls out his phone and finds the video of Brendan's response. "What my friend May has told us is a matter of great concern!" he says, when Max hits play. "I remember when those Tremors first started, back when I first became Champion. The fear and panic they caused, as no one knew when they'd strike next! I was hoping that we'd never see them again, but here we are, experiencing them once more!" At this, Brendan stands up, and Bonnie is momentarily surprised by how young he is. But she gets over it quickly when she remembers Ash and Iris's ages. "I swear to you, people of Hoenn," Brendan continues, "that I, Brendan Birch, your Champion, will not rest until I've uncovered Team Terra's plot, and put a stop to it!" He's greeted by rapturous applause at this, and bows deeply, before ending the video.
To make up for the abrupt ending of the last chapter, I decided to stick Brendan's announcement into this one, which is something that was originally going to be in the next chapter. Sarah and Sam's moment with Max was supposed to be the end of the previous chapter, but as I said, I lost all my energy to keep writing, and cut it short. It seems my chapters are better when I'm at work, and have nothing to distract me, huh. Well anyway, now that we are finished with that part of the story, I suddenly find myself a bit stuck for ideas. I'll think of something in time, but just so you're aware, the next few chapters will probably be bad and messy. See you on Tuesday.