Fun fact, this is the second time I'm writing this chapter, because I accidentally deleted the draft when I went to save it. Fuck my life. Anyway, I'm far more motivated to write this than I was on Tuesday, and I have a lot more of a plan than I did on that day, so this will hopefully turn out better than the previous chapter.
Chapter 30:
Water Fight!
Like with Bonnie's shiny Shinx, it takes Max's Shroomish a few days to get used to the rest of his team, as well as Clemont and Korrina. All the noise Clemont makes as he tries to build a device for tracking the Tremors doesn't help. But as the days go by, she grows accustomed to being around other creatures apart from her fellow Shroomish. Now she plays with the other pokémon whenever the group stops to each lunch. Sometimes, Max will include her in his training for the Fallarbor contests, as he tries to come up with a strategy for it. He considers using the strategy he developed with Drew back in Slateport before Team Terra's attack, but he isn't sure if Drew will be at this contest, and doesn't want to give him the advantage if he is.
After a few more days of travelling, the four of them end up walking past a river. Bonnie gets excited about this, as she can have a chance to get a water type pokémon, which will give her an advantage in her 4th Gym Battle. As she goes looking for one, Max calls out, "Now, remember to actually battle it rather than just throwing the ball first!" Bonnie blows a raspberry in response. "Will you shut up about that!?" she asks. "Nope!" Max replies. "Not until you actually do it." Bonnie just rolls her eyes. "If you bring up Laverre I swear to Arceus I will throw you into this river!" Max just laughs. "Got it," he replies. "I'll wait until we're past this river to mention it." Bonnie scowls at him, but doesn't respond. Clemont and Korrina laugh at the pair of them. "They insist that they're only friends," says Korrina, "and yet they already act like a young couple." Clemont chuckles at this. "I can't wait to see what kind of conversations they'd have when they finally get together!" They laugh some more, then carry on watching them.
Over the next few minutes, Bonnie continues to scour the water for a pokémon that could help her against the fire Gym. At last, she spots the perfect one, a Psyduck. "Perfect!" she decides, then she lets Dedenne out of her bag. "Alright Dedenne," she says enthusiastically. "Let's get ourselves a new team member. Use Thunderbolt!" Dedenne steps forward and charges up the attack. But when he launches it, instead of hitting the Psyduck, the attack strikes another Thunderbolt that was also hurtling towards it. When the two attacks collided, they send out a blast that knocks the Psyduck off of its feet, paralysing it at the same time. As the four of them stare in amazement at this, they hear the sound of another person approaching. "Well, well, well," says a voice that fills Bonnie and Max with anger. "Looks like you and I had the same idea Citron. Isn't that amusing." Trixie steps out onto the path, a cocky smile on her face. "Heh, I guess we did," Bonnie replies. "But it seems like you're going to have to try your hand at a different pokémon. My Dedenne already stunned this one." Trixie chuckles humourlessly. "Actually," she replies, "I think you'll find that it was my Emolga who did that." The pair stare daggers at each other for a few seconds.
Then, Clemont makes a proposal. "How about you two have a battle," he suggests. "Whoever wins it gets to catch the Psyduck." Bonnie smirks at this. "That's a great idea Clemont," she says. "We've battled 4 times now, and I've won everytime. This'll be easy." "Don't get so cocky now," Trixie replies. "Because I challenge you to a two-on-two. The pokémon that we have out now, and then another each. How does that sound?" Bonnie agrees immediately, remembering that Dedenne had trounced this Emolga the last time they battled. But Trixie doesn't seem to remember that, as she now bears a cocky grin of her own. "Excellent," she says, before turning to Max. "Could you be our ref please?" he nods, and Bonnie notices that he's looking at Trixie's cockiness with concern. He shoots Bonnie a waring look that reads, "Don't underestimate her, then he stands in between the two girls. At this point, the Psyduck has overcome its paralysis and tries to get away, but both girls order their pokémon to use Thunderwave on it, paralysing it once more.
"This will be a two-on-two battle between Bonnie Citron and Trixie Cadieux!" Max announces. "The winner will be decided when one person no longer has any pokémon that can battle! Substitutions are permitted! Does everyone accept these rules!?" When both girls say they do, Max declares the battle to start. Immediately, both Emolga and Dedenne charge at each other, Dedenne using Quick attack and Emolga using Acrobatics. Both attacks collided in mid air as the teo pokémon hack and slash at each other. Eventually they break apart and go in again. This time, Dedenne uses Play Rough while Emolga flies in with Iron tail. While Emolga is damaged by Play Rough, Dedenne takes a lot more, leaving Bonnie stunned. Trixie giggles. "Did you really think I wouldn't come up with a way to counter your little mouse?" she asks, which makes Bonnie's anger rise. She orders Dedenne to repeatedly use Quick Attack, and to avoid the Iron Tails as much as possible. Dedenne manages to do so, dealing a lot of damage to Emolga without receiving any himself. At last, Emolga is on its last legs, but it finally manages to land an Acrobatics. Then, the two pokémon face each other, and both charge in with Play Rough and Iron Tail once more. The attack collide in a small explosion, which knocks both pokémon out.
"Both pokémon are unable to battle!" Max calls. Both trainers are down to their last pokémon!" Bonnie picks Dedenne up and returns him to her bag. Then she mentally goes through her team to think about who her strongest pokémon is. Her mind quickly lands on her other starter, and she picks out her ball. Across the battlefield, she sees that Trixie has also chosen her next one. "Braixen, let's go!" she cries, as Trixie shouts "Marshtomp, time to battle!" at the same time. When both pokémon are released, Bonnie's face falls slightly, while Trixie smirks. "Well, it looks like I'm going to win this one!" she calls. "Don't get your hopes up just yet!" Bonnie retorts. "I could still beat you!" "Oh really?" Trixie asks. "Because I seem to recall that your pokémon was only a Fennekin for pretty much all of last year. I've had this guy for a month and a half, and he's already in his middle form." Bonnie can tell that these words are affecting Braixen. "Don't listen to her Braixen!" she says. "You're really strong. Let's prove that by wiping the shit-eating grin off of her face!" Trixie looks like she's trying not to laugh. "Alright then," she says. "Come at me!"
Braixen charges in with Zen Headbutt, which manages to hit Marshtomp. But Marshtomp takes the hit, then sprays Braixen with Water Pulse. Braixen is thrown backwards by the attack, and bounces off the ground a few times. But she gets back to her feet and uses Psybeam. This time, Marshtomp manages to dodge the attack, then launches a Water Gun at Braixen, who is unable to dodge it in time. Braixen is weakened by the attack, bit is still able to keep going. So, she goes in with Flame Charge to get in close, then fires another Psybeam at point blank range. But this is still not enough. Marshtomp is still standing, and hits Braixen dead on with Mud Shot. It hits her in the chest and she goes down. This time, she doesn't get back up.
"Braixen is unable to battle!" Max announces. "Making Trixie the winner of this match!" Trixie smirks with smug glee at this as she returns Marshtomp to his ball. Then, without a word, she picks out an empty ball and throws it at the Psyduck, who's still paralysed. It enters the ball, and gets caught. She picks up the ball and admires it happily. "I always knew I was the better trainer" she says simply. Bonnie's anger flares. "Need a reminder that this is the first time you won against me!?" she retorts angrily. "I've beaten you every other time!" Trixie makes a noise that sounds like a high-pitched scoff. "That hardly matters now,' she says as she puts the ball to her belt. "All those other times were mere friendly battles. Where it actually mattered, I won. Just like I'll beat you in the league." "Last I checked, you lost to her in the Battle Chateau," Max points out. "Did that not matter to you either?" Trixie scowls at this, then turns around. "I don't have time for this!" she snaps. "I've got Gyms to beat. See you in the League Citron, if you ever decide to take this seriously."
Bonnie lunges for her, but Clemont and Korrina grab her arms to stop her, while Max stands between them. But if Trixie noticed this, she doesn't show it. Instead, she continues to walk away, laughing to herself. As she's about to round the corner, Bonnie shouts out, "It's no wonder you don't have any friends, or anyone who actually wants to be around you! You're insufferable!" Trixie stops here for a few seconds. Perhaps Bonnie is imagining it, but it almost seems like her words affected her. Then, Trixie turns to face her, and they can see her tearing up. "And it's a miracle Maple there still hangs out with you, when you're this stupid!" she shouts back. "He's never going to feel the same way to a naïve fool like you, so you may as well give up hoping!" Then, without another word, she runs off. Max, Clemont and Korrina are so busy string angrily at the place she was standing that they fail to notice Bonnie slumping in Clemont and Korrina's arms, or the way she uses her arms to dry her eyes.
Yeah, that got personal. I added that in to show that their rivalry isn't a "Bonnie's good and Trixie's" bad" type thing, they're both on equal grounds here. Plus I wanted to build Trixie up a bit more than I had back on Dewford, if only slightly. But yeah, despite the little fuck up in the beginning, I quite liked this chapter, and I hope you did too. See you on Tuesday with the next one.