A warning, I'm a bit under the weather right now, so this may not come out until Friday. But at the same time, I also have this thing almost completely planned out, so there's still hope.
Chapter 43:
Escaping From Larousse
"The affect that girl has on me," Drew grumbles to himself as he creeps through the streets of Larousse. He's wearing a black jacket with a large hood, making sure to remain undetected by the patrols that Brendan had added to the city after Team Terra's attack on it a few weeks prior. He carries a bag on his back with two other coats like his, as per May's request. He and May had been together a few minutes ago, but she's since separated from him to confront Brendan herself. Drew tried to advise against that, but she's too stubborn to listen. Still, if he's being honest with himself, that's one of the things he loves about her. After spending a few more minutes ducking and weaving through the streets, he finally reaches the Battle Tower.
After making sure that there are no guards or officials nearby to see him, he pulls out Roserade. "Alright buddy," he whispers. "I need you to grow some branches along the side of this tower. Just to get me to that window in the centre of the tower." He points out the window where he spotted Max and Bonnie waving out of. Roserade looks at him quizzically, but does as she's told. She plants her roses against the side of the building and concentrates. Immediately, small hand and footholds begin to sprout out of the concrete wall. As Drew watches, the small branches sprout all the way up to the window in question. Drew thanks Roserade, then has her leap onto his back. Once she's fully secure, he begins to climb up the side of the building.
As he ascends the tower, he stubbornly refuses to look back, keeping his eyes firmly facing forwards. For all he knows, he's already been spotted by several patrols, all of which could be trying to bring him back down. But he doesn't look back to check. Eventually, he reaches the window. Both Max and Bonnie are staring at him with amazement. Drew has Roserade grow an extra platform for him to stand on, then turns back to the window. "Can you guys hear me!?" he asks, rather loudly. "Yes!"" Max replies, his voice sounding rather faint because of the glass. Drew nods, then looks around at the glass. "Do any of you have grass types?" he asks. Both Max and Bonnie nod, before releasing a Grovyle and Shiftry. Drew smiles at this. "Ok," he says, "here's what we're going to do. We're going to get them to grow their vines around this glass frame. If we can apply just enough pressure to it, the glass should come out without braking." Max looks extremely sceptical about this, but he and Bonnie agree to go with this plan.
Shiftry, Grovyle and Roserade all use Vine Whip on the window. Roserade pushes the vines against the bottom, while Grovyle and Shiftry do the same on the top. After almost a minute of applying just the right pressure, the glass pops out of the frame. Roserade manages to catch it before it fall to the ground, then Max and Bonnie step out of the window, grabbing their stuff before they do. "There's no way that actually worked," Max comments. "Well, it did," Drew replies. "And now, we need to reattach it." Pulling out a vial of sweet honey, Drew coats the ends of the window pane with it, then slides it back into places. After making sure it stays in place, Drew moves on to the next stage of his plan. He gets Max and Bonnie to use their grass types to attach their vines to the makeshift platform and uses all three grass types to slowly lower them back down to the ground.
They reach the ground without any troubles. Roserade, Shiftry and Grovyle disassemble their makeshift lift, and get returned to their balls. Drew hands out the black jackets to Max and Bonnie, and they throw them on. But, just as they're about to flee the scene... SMASH! Even from down at the bottom of the tower, they can hear the sound of the window smashing. "Run!" Drew exclaims. Without another word, the three of them flee the scene. As they run, they can hear officials running all over the place, trying to find them. An alarm is triggered in the tower, just in case there was anyone who isn't aware that Max and Bonnie escaped. "This way," Drew calls to them. "Where are we going?" Max asks. "We're getting out of Larousse," Drew explains. "We'll be meeting up with May in the forest surrounding the city." Max nods and keeps running. As he does, he keeps glancing over his shoulder. Sure enough, he spots the pesky drone that's been tailing him and Bonnie throughout Hoenn. As Drew leads them through the streets of Larousse, Max uses Grovyle to block the drone's line of sight, allowing them to lose it.
After a bit more time sneaking through the streets of Larousse, the three of them finally arrive at the monorail out of the city. Only to find that it's shut down. "Now what!?" Max asks. Drew looks around, then down at the bridge. "Follow me," he says. "I've got a plan. But I warn you, it's pretty stupid." Max clearly is about to argue against this, but before he can, Bonnie elbows him and agrees to go through with this plan. That is, until he begins to lead them to the underside of the bridge. Now, Bonnie suddenly wants to back out, but Max just makes her come with them. "You were the one to agree with this plan," he tells her. "You dug your grave, now lie in it." Bonnie grumbles about this, but follows after the two boys. Drew leads them to the underside of the bridge, then orders them to take out their grass types again. "This is going to be a very risky plan," he says. "But I need you to copy exactly what I do."
Then, he holds Roserade against his chest and orders her to use Vine Whip once more. As Drew instructs her, Roserade's vines wrap around his body, creating a harness for him. Max and Bonnie order Grovyle and Shiftry to do the same. As soon as all three have makeshift harnesses on, they come to the hard part of Drew's plan. Drew demonstrates what he has in mind. Roserade sends out one of her vines, which attaches to the bridge. Drew braces himself, then kicks off of the ground. He has to put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. Then, he swings across the bridge, with Roserade using two different vines to help him swing across. Max and Bonnie look at each other, realising that they have no other options. So, they join in on the swinging. Like with Drew, they also need to block their mouths to prevent from screaming. As he swings across with Grovyle, Max can't help but think, "Oh this is stupid! Oh this is so fucking stupid!" over and over again.
After one of the most terrifying experiences of any of their lives, the three of them make it to the other side. Once they return their pokémon to their balls, they begin sneaking up to the main path. "I vote that we never do anything like that again," says Bonnie. Max nods in agreement. They make it back to the main path, and Drew peeks his head up to get a good look at the amount of people guarding the monorail. "How do we get passed them?" Bonnie asks. Drew rifles through his pokéballs, as if hoping he has the right pokémon to sneak them passed the guards. Then, he shakes his head. "I got nothing," he tells them. "You guys?" Bonnie shakes her head. Then, both of them turn to look at Max. "Why me?" he asks. "You're the one with the Observant State," Bonnie points out. "You're really good at coming up with plans." Max can't help but blush a little bit at this. Then, he looks around at the surrounding forest, and gets an idea.
"Ok, I've got a plan," he says, ignoring Bonnie's look that clearly says, "see?" He pulls out Shroomish, and has him dust the area with Sleep Powder. Enough to knock the guards out for no more than a minute, but not enough for it to be seen. Then, he and the other two hold their breaths and quickly sneak through the area. As they do, the sound of collapsing guards can be heard. Once they make it to the other side, Max returns Shroomish to his ball, and the three of them take off running through the forest. Finally, after almost 2 months in that city, Max and Bonnie are free.
Brendan is training his pokémon when the alarm goes off. Immediately, he returns all of his pokémon and dashes to the room where Max and Bonnie are staying. To his horror, the glass window is shattered, and shattered inwards, which means someone broke in. Immediately, he raises the alarm across the tower, and summons Detective Looker to the room in question. When Looker arrives, he immediately analysis the room. "They weren't taken," he says finally. Brendan looks at him with confusion. "What do you mean?" he asks. "The window is smashed, and the glass is inside the room. Not to mention Max and Bonnie are gone. What else could've happened?!" Looker waves his hand around the room. "Take a look," he says. "The room is undisturbed. There's no sign of a struggle. The beds are untouched, meaning they were awake when the window was broken." He walks up to the spot where the window once sat, and feels around the frame. "Sticky honey," he mutters, feeling it between his fingers. "The window was replaced. And since that would take a bit of time..." He trails off, but Brendan gets the message. "They escaped, and had help to do so."
Immediately, Brendan storms out of the room and up the stairs. As he does, he pulls out the radio on his belt. "I'm coming up to the main battle arena," he spoke into it. "I want the tablet that's tracking the drone brought to me!" After receiving an affirmative, he puts the radio away and marches up to his arena. The arena in the battle tower where people come to challenge him for the title of Champion sits at the top of the Battle Tower. It takes up the whole floor, with a massive window taking up one whole wall. It gives him a view of a good chunk of the city. When he arrives in the room, one of the officials hands him the tablet. Looking down at it, he sees the dot symbolising the drone as it darts around the screen. "What's it doing?" he asks. The official looks over his shoulder at the device. "It seems to be sweeping the city," she muses. Seeing the confused look on Brendan's face, she adds, "I think Max and Bonnie managed to give the drone the slip, so it's trying to find them again."
Brendan feels both relief and anger at this. It means that they weren't taken by Team Terra, but it also means that Brendan won't be able to find them so easily. "I want a sweep of the city done," he says to the official. "Close off all exits to the city! They must not be able to leave!" The official nods, then leaves the room. Brendan sighs, then turns to face the window. That's when he hears a new voice from behind him. "Hello Brendan." He wheels around, Swampert's ball flying into his hand. May is standing there, arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. Standing next to her is her Blaziken, and Brendan can see that she's got her keystone ready, in case this conversation goes south. Seeing this, Brendan releases his Swampert, and gets his keystone ready too. "Hello May," he replies. "What brings you here?" "Because I feel like I wasn't given critical need to know information," she replies curtly, stepping out of the shadows. "In other words, you wrongfully imprisoned my brother without telling me, so I had my boyfriend help me break him out."
Brendan looks at her, and an amused grin spreads across his face. "So, you finally had the guts to ask him out," he comments. May blushes at this. "Don't change the subject," she snaps. "Tell me why you locked my brother and his 'friend' in here?!" She makes air quotations with her fingers at the word friend. "I had no choice," says Brendan. "Team Terra are hunting them down, and using the Tremors to do so. Keeping them here is the only way to prevent them from tearing the region apart. "But can't you see that Team Terra will just use a Tremor on this city!" May argues. "They haven't yet," Brendan counters. "In all the time Max and Bonnie were in here, they could've launched a Tremor, but they didn't!" "They'll run out of patience eventually," May points out. "Look what they did in Lumiose!" "That's different!" Brendan snaps. "They were targeting the whole region then! They're just after Max now, and I want to know why!"
May notices the way that Brendan said "Max," and not "Max's notebook." "So, you think there's more to this as well?" May asks. Brendan nods. "Two of the agents attacked Bonnie, hoping to use her to get Max to hand over the notebooks," Brendan tells her. "However, there were two other's there as well. But they seemed more interested in taking Max himself, rather than just his notebooks. There's something else going on here. That's why I need Max and Bonnie here. So I can capture a member of Team Terra with actual information on their plans. I want to know where the Tremors are coming from, how to stop them, and most importantly, what do they want with Max Maple." "But putting the capitol of Hoenn in danger in order to find out what Team Terra is up to isn't the way to do it," May argues.
Brendan's nostrils flare at this. "For the last time, I'm not putting Larousse in danger!" Brendan snaps. "Though, Is suppose you have a better plan?!" May smiles at this. "Actually, I do," she says. Brendan stares at her with some doubt. He cocks his head, as if to say, "Elaborate." "I've got some friends coming to help us," she tells him. "I'll be meeting them in Petalburg, with Max and Bonnie there. From there, we'll be able to work something out." Brendan looks at her sceptically. "And what if they just destroy Petalburg with a Tremor before you can come up with something?" he asks. "My friend has faced the likes of Team Terra before," she tells him. "He'll be able to come up with something. But please, I need you to trust me." At that moment, the device that Brendan is holding beeps. He looks at it, and sees that the drone has stopped it's sweep of Larousse, and is on a decisive path outside of Larousse.
"It seems like Team Terra have located your brother," he tells her. "And now, I know where he is." His other hand goes down to his radio. "Please Brendan," May says. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing. I can help you stop the Tremors!" Before Brendan can respond, a voice comes from his radio. "Mr. Champion sir," says one of his officials. "We've been unable to locate Maple and Citron within the city. They may have gotten out! Shall we widen our search?" Brendan picks up the radio and puts it to his mouth. He sees May look at him pleadingly, then replies. "Negative," he replies. "Call off the search." May sighs with relief. The person on the other end of the radio sounds confused. "Excuse me, sir," he says. "You want us to call off the search for Maple?" "Yes I do," Brendan replies. "I've got a new plan for stopping Team Terra. Let them go." "Yes sir!" says the official, then the radio goes silent. "Thank you," says May. "I'll do this for you on one condition," Brendan tells her. "I come with you. Whatever plan you concoct, I want in on." May nods in agreement. Then, the two of them return their pokémon to their belts, and head out of the tower.
Drew leads Max and Bonnie to the spot where he and May agreed to meet up. While they wait, Bonnie keeps anxiously looking in the direction of the city. "Why is he doing this?" she asks. "He's your friend, why would he go try a plan like that?" Max scoffs at this. "Isn't it obvious?" he says bitterly. "He's worried the public will think he's unfit to be champion. He's doing this to make sure the people don't call for his removal as champion." "Hey now, that's not fair," says Drew. "I get that you're frustrated by him, but he's still that same Brendan Birch that befriended you and May 4 years ago." Max scoffs again. "The Brendan Birch I know wouldn't give a shit what the public thinks about him," he snaps. "And he doesn't," Drew tells him. "But he does care what his own demons think."
Max looks at him quizzically. "Put yourself in his shoes," Drew tells him. "Remember that he managed to take the role of champion from Steven Stone, who was a prodigy in pokémon battling. Then, about a year after he does this, the Tremors start. Despite his best efforts, they keep going for 5 months, before stopping on their own. Then, a year after they stop, they suddenly start up again. Except now he knows who's doing this, he doesn't know how or why." Max thinks about this. "I suppose that would put a good deal of stress on anyone," he admits. "Exactly," says Drew. "He finds out what their target is, and it's a friend of his. Of course he's going to leap at this to try to stop them. It's not because of the people of Hoenn wondering if he's worthy of the title. He's doubting himself. He's wondering to himself, 'Could Steven Stone have dealt with this by now?' Surely that would cause you to take drastic actions?" Max says nothing to this, but he nods his head.
At that moment, the sound of movement comes from behind them. Everyone looks in its direction, and sees Brendan and May running over to them. When Brendan spots them, he pulls out his Swampert. Max panics and raises his hands, while May shouts, "Brendan wait!" "Swampert, Water Gun!" Brendan roars. Swampert shoots the Water Gun, and Max closes his eyes, waiting for it to strike him. It doesn't. Instead, it hits something else, which makes a sputtering sound, before hitting the ground. Opening his eyes, Max sees that Swampert had struck the drone that had been following him and Bonnie for ages. Brendan walks up to it and picks it up. "Next time you want to spy on someone," he says to it. "Don't make yourself so obvious." Then, he drops the drone on the ground and stamps on it, breaking it." Then. he turns to Max and Bonnie. "I would like to apologise for holding you two captive in Larousse," he tells them. Max and Bonnie nod at this, then Max turns to May. "Why is he here?" he asks.
"He wants to stop the Tremors by any means necessary," May replies. "So, he wants in on my plan to do that." "And what is your plan exactly?" Max asks. "Head back home, meet up with a few friends, and come up with phase two with them." Max resists the urge to facepalm. Of course that was May's plan. But, it's better than sitting around in Larousse and waiting for Team Terra to destroy it, so he says nothing about it. "Who are these friends?" Bonnie asks eagerly. "May smirks at this. "You'll see," she tells them. "I won't say now, in case Team Terra have more ways of listening in than we know of." Brendan looks like he wants to argue that they don't, but he can't know for sure, so he says nothing about it. Once all of that is settled, the group follows May as she leads the way back to Petalburg, and hopefully to a plan that'll finally put a stop to these Tremors.
Sorry this is coming out a day late, as I said in the opening notes, I'm sick right now, and when I get sick my motivation to write drops to zero. Especially when I'm writing a chapter as long as this one. But, I managed to get it out at least. I wonder who these friends of May's are? Well, I'm sure you probably already know who they are, but you'll find out for sure on Tuesday. See you then.