You have no idea how tempted I was to post a fake chapter today, seeing as it's April Fools Day. But, then I realised that Friday is going to be far to busy for me to write, so Tuesday and Thursday will be when I write this. Also, I've been dying to start writing this chapter for the past week, ever since I reread the first 2 volumes. So, here we are! Welcome back to the series. We are now in the Second Quarter of the story, and things are only going to get much more serious from here. So, I hope you all are ready for that! Anyway, on to the new chapter!
Chapter 1:
Declaration of War
SNAP!
Max Maple curses as the lead of his pencil snaps again. He sighs, then pulls out his sharpener again, fixing it quickly. He looks up at the Pidgy he'd been writing about, only to find that it's flown away. He swears again, then starts looking around for another Pidgy to write about. Unfortunately, due to it being the early evening, it seems most Pidgy are flying back to their nests to go to sleep. Max sighs then looks down at this notes. This is his 3rd notebook since starting out on his journey through Kalos 2 years ago. He'd found it amongst Delia Ketchum's things, and she'd permitted him to have it. As he goes about finishing what he can remember about the Pidgy's behaviour, he lets his mind wander back through the past month, and marvel at just how quickly it all went to Hell in a handcart.
Team Rocket landed them safely in a field not far from Pallet Town. Max and Bonnie got out of the blimp quickly, just in case Team Rocket try something sneaky. Fortunately, they didn't, and merely bid them farewell, informed them that this doesn't mean they won't come after them if their Boss demands them to, before taking off again. Once they were gone, the two kids walked over to Pallet Town. When they got there, they found a woman with long brown hair and the same eyes as Ash standing at the entrance. Max recognised her immediately from when he visited Kanto with Ash, May and Brock nearly 6 years ago.
Delia Ketchum waved to them welcoming them to Kanto. Then, she turned and led them through the streets of the town. She led them to a house on the edge of Pallet, which had a Mr. Mime sweeping the pathway outside of it. "Thank you Mimey," Delia said to the Mr. Mime. "The house looks lovely. You can run along to bed now." The Mr. Mime nods, then brings the brush inside. Max and Bonnie looked at each other, then entered the house. As they did, they both wondered how long they'd be spending here.
Things progressed rather quickly over the next few weeks. Shortly after Ash Ketchum's declaration of war on the group, members of Team Terra retaliated by attacking the news station that he and his friends used. Luckily, no one was hurt too badly, and those responsible were quickly arrested. However, the building was destroyed, and is currently under reconstruction. Not long after Ash's declaration, the Boss of Team Terra responded by hacking the airways. As everyone in the world watched, he chuckled. "So, you wish to stand against the righteous hand of progress?" he asked. "Very well, if you wish to be beaten that badly, then I accept your challenge. Team Terra will reign supreme!"
Ash responded by having Clemont and Sophocles trace the hack back to a cliff in Sinnoh. Once they'd tracked him, Ash and May led a strike team to find the Boss. Unfortunately, the base had been abandoned by the time they got there. They tried to search it, but all they found was a primed explosive. No one died from the resulting explosion, but there were a lot of casualties, including May. Her arms had been badly burned by the explosion, and narrowly avoided having her legs broken by its collapse. Luckily, the paramedics agreed to not take her mask off, so her identity wasn't revealed.
Over the next few weeks, Team Terra's influence begins to grow, as more and more people seem to to be agreeing with their message. Max and Bonnie were planning on setting of on their journey through Kanto shortly after their arrival, but since they have no idea who's a Team Terra sympathiser, and who sides with Ash, Delia advises that they stay put for the time being. So, Max spent all of the time that this had been going on writing about Pokémon around Pallet Town. Meanwhile, Team Terra agents increased their dogged search for him and his notebooks. There were a few times when Team Terra agents arrived in Pallet Town in search of him, and he and Bonnie had to hide in Delia's attic to avoid being detected.
While all of this happened, Team Terra have also begun to destroy things again. Cliffs and valleys, forests, pathways, you name it. it is still unknown why they're doing this, but many people who sided with Ash have started keeping an eye on anywhere unpopulated, hoping to catch Team Terra in the act. A few agents have been caught and arrested trying to blow through a cliff, and their bomb was quickly disabled. But, these small successes aren't enough to stop the near unstoppable force of action that Team Terra has become.
But of course, they wouldn't have gotten this powerful had Max not found the Jade Orb. If he'd just left it alone, and gone to Kalos without the stupid thing, none of this would be happening. Now, Bonnie can't se her family, Ash has a massive target on his back, May is constantly putting herself in danger for his sake, and people are getting hurt. All because of the fact that he let his curiosity get the better of him. Now, the world is going to shit and it was entirely his fault!
SNAP!
Max bellows with rage at this as he hurls his notebook across the garden. It bounces across the grass a few times before coming to a stop near the door to Ash's Mother's house. His sits back down on the stump he was using and holds his head in his hands, panting a bit from a mixture of anger and anxiety. After a few minutes of this, he feels a soft hand on his shoulder. Looking up,he sees his best friend, and crush, Bonnie Citron, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright?" she asks. He nods, standing up and fetching his notebook. "Yeah," he replies, "I'm fine." But he doesn't quite meet her eyes as he says this.
Bonnie immediately knows what's up, and she sighs. "You were thinking about what's going on in the world right now, weren't you?" She asks. Max looks like he wants to deny it, but Bonnie strides over and squishes his face between her hands. "Don't lie," she says. "I can tell when you're lying." Max sighs, then pushes himself away from her. "Alright fine, I was," he admits. Bonnie tries hard to make sure she doesn't sigh. "Am I going to have to do this again?" She asks. "Do what?" He asks. "Sit you down and give you a presentation on how none of this is your fault?"
Max looks away at this. "But it kind of is," he replies. "I mean, none of this would be happening if I had just left the Jade Orb where I found it." Bonnie sighs. "You're right, none of this would've happened," Bonnie agrees. Max looks crestfallen at this. "Instead, Team Terra would've gotten their hands on the Jade Orb much sooner, used it on Johto, then devastated the entire world before anyone could even comprehend what they're doing. By taking the Orb, you managed to stop that plan from ever succeeding." Max thinks about that, and Bonnie can see that he's still trying to find a way to blame himself for it all.
"Max, don't forget that everyone involved in this chose to do so. Ash chose to declare war on Team Terra. MAy chose to fight them as the Blaziken Mask. And I chose to be here with you! And I'd make that chose again and again if I could!" Max looks at her with a meek smile. "Thanks Bonnie," he says, rubbing the back of his head a bit. Bonnie smiles and takes his hand. "Now come on," she says. "We can't celebrate your birthday without you." Max nods, laughing slightly, then they make their way inside. As they do however, Bonnie thinks she sees something move in the corner of her eye. She whips around quickly ,but there's nothing there. Shrugging, she turns around and continues into the building after her best friend, and crush.
Well, that's it for the first chapter. Sorry it isn't particularly long, but it's more of a setup, to recap the events between the end of Hoenn and the start of Kanto. In case I didn't make it clear, Max and Bonnie are born a month apart in my headcanon, so it has officially been 2 years since Max's journey began. But anyway, I'll see you al on Thursday with the next chapter. Don't worry, it should be longer.