So fun fact, this is actually my second time writing this chapter. I started writing it yesterday, but I was sick, which slowed me down enough already. Then, say it with me now, my laptop decided to shit itself and die. Again. So, I'm going to get it fixed, again, which I can't do until tomorrow. Fuck my life. In the meantime, I'll be updating this from my iPad and my phone. As a result, there may end up being a bunch of spelling mistakes. Anyway, on with the chapter.
Chapter 86:
Mind Over Matter
Once everyone has calmed down, the Pokémon League Officials get started on surveying the damage done to the city. Luckily, the only damage done was to the window in the space centre. Steven Stone leads the investigations into the damage, as well as the well-being of every civilian who got involved in the battle. There are a few people who were injured during the chaos, so they are brought to the Pokémon Centre for quick checkups. Bonnie insists that Max go and get checked up on, since he was forced into the rocket. He tries to refuse, insisting that he's fine, but quickly caves and gets checked up on when Bonnie uses Babydoll eyes.
Once she's sure he's ok, May, along with Drew, quickly leave Mossdeep, so they can be there as May and Drew, as opposed to the Blaziken Mask and her sidekick. A few hours later, they return, this time in their normal clothes. By this time, Max has had his checkup, and is deemed fine, and his new Sceptile has fully recovered from the skirmish in the rocket. As he and Bonnie leave the Centre, May runs over to him and almost tackles him to the ground when she hugs him. True she already knew he's alright, she just needs to keep up appearances.
"I swear, every time I leave you alone, you get into even worse trouble!" she exclaims. "You're just lucky that vigilante was here when she was, or we would've lost you!" "Alright, alright," Max complains, struggling to free himself from his sister's grip. "I get it. But the fact is I'm fine, so can you let me go please? You're choking me!" May apologises and lets him go. Not wanting to give her away, Max gives her a rundown on everything that occurred since they got on the boat from Lilycove. As he describes what happened in the rocket, he pulls out Sceptile to show his sister. May is impressed by him, especially since she didn't get a proper look at him during the battle in the rocket.
Just as Max is wrapping up the events of the conflict, when Tate and Liza approach the four of them. "Max, May, good to see you both again," says Tate. The Maple siblings greet the Gym Leaders. Then, they turn their attention to Bonnie. "You are Bonnie Citron, correct?" Liza asks. "That I am," Bonnie replies. Both Leaders grin a bit at this. "We know that you're here to challenge us to a Gym Battle," Tate continues. "We would like to request that it be postponed until tomorrow, as we still need to help the city recover from what just happened." Bonnie nods in agreement. "Of course," she says. The twin leaders smile at this, thank her, then head off to deal with other matters.
Max and Bonnie spend the rest of the day training her team to be able to battle Tate and Liza. Since she only has Shiftry to attack their weaknesses, she needs to prepare the Pokémon battling alone side him to be able to do so. Both she and Max came up with this plan, and they're pretty confident it will work. Eventually, the evening falls, and the city is more or less back to normal. So, Max and Bonnie agree that they've done all the training they can, and agree to head back to the Pokémon Centre that they're staying in with May and Drew.
As they walk in, May notices something about her brother. She was so caught up in everything that was going on, that she never got the chance to speak with him about the stuff he told her in the abandoned PRA building. Now that things have calmed down, she realises that he isn't quite over all of that either. So, she excuses herself from Drew's side and makes her way over to her brother. "Max, could I have a word with you for a moment?" she asks. Max shrugs, then agrees and follows her back outside the Centre, leaving Bonnie and Drew alone inside.
When they're outside, May turns around to face Max. "I just wanted to talk about the stuff you said back in the building earlier," she tells him. Max blanches at this. "Ah, that," he says. "Look, we don't have to do this. I was mad at you for excluding me from the fight and I said some things. We don't need to talk about it." "Yes we do Max," she says. "You were clearly upset earlier. I just want to make sure you're ok." Max sighs, he should've known this wouldn't be so easy to avoid. "It's not just that I'm scared to lose you," he says. "I'm just a bit worked up." "Because you lost to Harley in Pacifidlog?" she asks.
Max stares at her. "How did you manage to work that out?" he asks. "I'm your older sister," she replies. "I have an extra sense exclusively for knowing when something is bothering you." Max sighs again. No point denying it now. "It's not just that," he admits. "He taunted me after he left, saying I dragged your name down, and that he was certain that you'll lose to him this time, all because of me. That's not what's bothering me though. When he said that, it made me remember that the last time I saw you in person was a few days before your charity event was attacked. I guess thinking about that made me worry that that would be the last time I ever saw you."
May hugs him at this. "Max, I can't promise that I'll be ok," she says. "But, I won't be killed so easily. As long as you hold out against Team Terra, I'll keep fighting against them. I won't let them get me as long as you don't." Max nods, tearing up slightly as he pulls May into an even deeper hug. The two of them stay like that for a while, before heading back into the Pokémon Centre. But effort they go in, both of them swear to each other that they'll keep fighting no matter what. Then, they rejoin Bonnie and Drew, who are discussing some of the ways in which she can win tomorrow's battle.
The next morning, Bonnie is the first awake, practically bouncing out of bed and running down the stairs for breakfast. By the time Max has come down stairs for food, she's already nearly finished. He chuckles at the sight. "You know you're going to have to wait for me, May, and Drew right?" he points out. "We're all coming to watch, so we're going to the same place together." Bonnie. Nods and says something, but she's go so much food in her mouth that it comes out like this, "I ro, bur I us ca way!" "Finish chewing before you speak," Max replies, looking away so he doesn't see the mashed up food in Bonnie's mouth. Bonnie swallows what's in her mouth, then repeats herself. "I know, but I just can't wait!"
At this point, May and Drew come down stairs, with May joining the two of them at the table while Drew goes and gets breakfast for the both of them. Max gets up and gets food for himself. When the two boys get back, they talk about Bonnie's plan for taking on Tate and Liza. "So, what clever scheme have you cooked up for her this time?" May asks Max. "Actually, this is just as much Bonnie's plan as it is mine," Max admits. "She remembered a plan I came up with in Kalos, so she's using it again, but with a few tweaks based off what I remember about Ash's battle against them 5 years ago."
Bonnie, who's just finished eating, explains the plan she and Max came up with. After her defeat in Sootopolis, she decided that maybe it would be cleverer if the both of them come up with her battle plans in future. Max agreed wholeheartedly to this, and both of them spent some of the journey to Lilycove working on this plan. Now, the day of the battle, Bonnie is starting to worry that it won't work. "Hey, I'm sure it will," May tells her. "You've come up with plans for Gym Battles before right?" Bonnie nods. "Well, considering the fact that you only have one badge left to win, I'd say you've done a good job before. So, I think you'll be ok." Bonnie smiles at this. "Besides, you're practically dating Max," Drew adds. "I'd say a bit of his cleverness rubbed off on you." "WE'RE NOT DATING!" both of them cry.
After breakfast, they head over the the Mossdeep Gym. When they reach the building, one of the gym trainers spots them. "Ms. Citron," she says, "Tate and Liza are expecting you. Follow me." With that, she leads them away inside. Once they're standing
at the arena, Max, May, and Drew stand off to the side, while Bonnie steps up to the arena. Tate and Liza are waiting for her, standing side by side at the opposite end of the arena. "So, you're here to challenge us?" says Tate. "That's right!" Bonnie replies. "I'm here for my final badge!" Both Gym Leaders grin. "Very well," says Liza. "But just know that this won't be an easy fight." "Our thoughts are one and the same," they both say together. "We can read each other's minds, so you'll have to be careful with how you battle!" With that, they send out their teams, and the battle begins.
Tate sends out Solrock, and Liza sends out Lunastone, while Bonnie sends out Shiftry and Braixen. Braixen is particularly eager to do battle. After seeing that Grovyle is now a Sceptile, she's hoping that this battle will allow her to evolve as well. Liza starts the battle off by having Lunastone launch Confusion right at Shiftry. Before it can hit him, Braixen runs in and takes the hit. Due to her being a psychic type, it does next to nothing to her. Shiftry takes the opportunity to strike them with Feint Attack, which does a lot of damage. Solrock tries to hit Shiftry with Fire Spin, but once again, Braixen gets in the way. She absorbs the attack, then, adds the fire to her own, throwing out a massive Flamethrower at Solrock. It doesn't do a lot of damage, but it does hurt it.
Realising that Braixen is going to be a difficulty if they want to attack Shiftry, both Tate and Liza have Lunastone and Solrock attack Braixen with Rock Throw. This time, Shiftry pushes Braixen out of the way and takes the damage, which isn't much. Then, he uses Razor Leaf on them both, before using Feint Attack on Solrock. While he does that, Braixen uses Psychic on the leftover rocks and throws them at Lunastone. Getting frustrated by all of this, Lunastone uses Rock Throw on Braixen while Solrock uses Fire Spin on Shiftry. Both Pokémon try to swap places, but they aren't quick enough, and are hit by the super effective moves.
Thinking that that tide is finally beginning to turn, they try the same trick again. However, now Shiftry is prepared for it, and uses Vine Whip to swap Braixen and him around. Then, he uses Razor Leaf again, hurting the two a lot more. Beaixen gets to her feet and uses Psychic on Solrock, throwing it into Lunastone. Both Pokémon go crashing to the ground, dizzy. Before either of can get up, Shiftry runs in and uses Feint Attack once more, managing to hit them both. Both Pokémon go flying into the wall, and are knocked out by the blow.
"Both Solrock and Lunastone are unable to battle!" declares the ref. "Making challenger Bonnie Citron the winner of this match!" All of Bonnie's spectators cheer her on as she returns both Shiftry and Braixen to their balls. As she does, she thinks she sees a hint of disappointment on Braixen's face. Once all Pokémon have been returned, Bonnie meets Tate and Liza in the middle of the arena. "Well, that was quite the battle," says Tate. Liza nods in agreement. "We were trying our hardest, but you've really proven yourself as a trainer." "As proof of this, we give you the mind badge," they both say together. Bonnie takes the badge happily, then leaves the gym with her friends.
Outside of the gym, May and Liza catch up while Max and Bonnie grab their things from their room. Tate decides to join them, and spends that time catching up with Max. "You guys have really improved since Ash battled you," Max marvels. "You two were in perfect sync during that battle." Tate smiles at this. "We've managed to learn to cooperate properly since that battle," Tate replies. "Liza's even almost stopped calling me her little brother. Almost." Max chuckles at that. "Hey, if there's one thing I've learned from my journey, it's don't take my sister for granted," he says. "Sure she may annoy me, but you never know when something could happen, and our last conversation was an argument." Tate thinks about that. "I guess that's fair," he says.
Once they've got their stuff, Max and Bonnie head to the port to get a boat to Ever Grande City. May and Drew meanwhile are taking the next one to Dewford, in order for May to take part in the Hoenn Grand Festival. Bonnie is eager to watch it, and is about to ask Max if they have time to travel with them to watch, before remembering that it's on the other side of Hoenn from Ever Grande, and would take them far too long to get there. So, she settles for watching it on tv instead. Soon enough, both of their boats arrive. Bonnie quickly scans the boat with her Aura, but sees only blue. So, she and Max bid farewell to May and Drew, both promising to watch May perform, then they board their boat and sail off to Ever Grande Island.
My iPad is dangerously close to running out of power, which is why the ending is rushed. I know I could've included that part in the next chapter, but that's when the Hoenn Grand Festival happens, so I couldn't do that. Now, I don't know when the next chapter will be out, as I'm bringing my laptop to be fixed tomorrow. So it could be out tomorrow, or Sunday. Just know, that after this festival, I am most likely NEVER writing performances of any kind again. They are way too fucking annoying. Anyway, see you over the weekend.