A Mechanic's Request

Max and Bonnie wake up at the same time to see that they'd both rolled over during the night and ended up facing each other in the bed. Bonnie lets out a squeak of surprise and both of them leap out of the bed as fast as possible, very red in the face. Once they get over the shock, the two take turns in the bathroom getting changed, then they head downstairs to eat breakfast and plot out their next route. Bonnie is especially keen on getting her brother Clemont over to Shalour, in order for him and Korrina to finally go out with each other, something she's apparently been trying to make happen for four years.

Eventually, she decides that she'll call him and get him over to Shalour as soon as anything remotely shocking or different happens when they arrive. Namely, the next time Team Terra try to attack them. With that settled, she and Max get back to talking about the route they'll take to get to Shalour, something that Max feels is more important. They both agree to take the shortest possible route to Shalour, no sidetracks whatsoever this time. They pick a route that should take them roughly a month or so to reach the city. Once that's settled, they finish what they're eating, pack up their stuff and leave the centre.

However, as they're heading for the exit of Cyllage, the two are suddenly ambushed by Sarah and Sam. "Oh come on!" Bonnie complains. "I thought you'd finally left us alone!" The two team members laugh at that. "Not a chance," says Sarah. "It must've been quite nerve-wracking to not know where we were." Sam joins in. "I bet you were looking over your shoulders for us this whole time." Max and Bonnie stare at them blankly. "I'll be honest," says Max, "I had nearly forgotten about you. And I dearly wish I had."

Those words seem to sting the two agents right where it hurts. They start moping about it and curl up into balls in their self-loathing, giving Max and Bonnie the chance to slip away. But they don't manage to get very far before the two get up again and chase after them. Max and Bonnie manage to leave the city and try to lose them in the trees, but before they can even step foot into the forests, Bonnie's foot goes through a disguised pit, causing her to fall through. Max grabs her to catch her, but all that happens is that he gets pulled in with her.

Sarah and Sam stand over the pit they created last night and laugh. "Now we've got you!" Sarah yells. "Now, you'll be forced to see us as a threat once we take the Jade Orb from you!" Sam laughs along with his partner, then begins to head down the pit to take the orb. But before he can, Sarah is suddenly smacked over the head by someone. She falls into the pit alongside Max and Bonnie. Sam spins around to see what had happened, when he's smacked across the face by the same person, leading him to fall in as well. Max and Bonnie look up to see what's happening and see Megan standing over them. "I overheard some commotion outside and came to check!" she called down as she helped them up. "Glad I noticed huh?"

Max and Bonnie thank her. "Don't mention it," she replies. "What brings you outside of your shop?" Bonnie asks. "Because we're the other end of the city to where your shop is." "Yes," Megan replies. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you." "What?" Max asks. But before she can finish her sentence, Sarah and Sam manage to get out of the pit using their pokémon. "You're quite sneaky for a mechanic!" Sam declares. "But that means nothing when it comes to our skill in battle!" Megan looks seriously at them, but calms down when Max tells her, "Don't worry, these two are a pair of total idiots." Megan giggles at this, then lets out a pokémon. It's a blue and black cat with a yellow star at the end of its tail. "Go Shinx!" she says, "let's give these guys a real shock!" Max and Bonnie smile, then Bonnie sends out Dedenne and Max sends out Treecko.

Sarah and Sam smirk cockily, then send out their Mime Jr. and Pumpkaboo. "Let's see how you handle our combined attack power!" Sarah declares. "We'll leave you quaking in your boots. Pumpkaboo, Shadow Ball on the green lizard!" "And you use Psychic Mime Jr." Sam commands. Both moves slam into each other and seem to increase in power. They strike where the three pokémon are standing and kick up an explosion. However, Max, Bonnie, and Megan order their pokémon to avoid the attack by diving into the hole made by Team Terra. Once the dust clears, Treecko uses Vine whip to lift the group out of the hole. Once they're out, Max comes up with a plan. He orders Treecko to use vine whip again. He slams his tail into the ground, sending vines hurtling at Pumpkaboo and Mime Jr. As they charge at the two pokémon, Megan and Bonnie have Shinx and Dedenne electrify the vines, causing them to deal massive damage to the two pokémon.

Mime Jr. gets knocked out by the blast, but Pumpkaboo remains standing. It charges up one final attack, but before it could finish charging it, Treecko rushes in for a headbutt, sending Pumpkaboo flying into Sarah, who has the foresight to dodge out of the way this time. The two return their pokémon and turn to face the trio, anger evident in their eyes. "Well, you truly do seem to be better than us at battling," said Sam in annoyance. "However, there is one thing that you will never be able to top us at." The trio are confused. "What's that?" Megan asks. "Running away!" Sarah shouts, before slamming a bunch of repels on the ground, creating a makeshift smoke bomb.

As the three of them cough from the smoke, Max can't help but laugh. "Heh, copycats," he says. "Not only do they copy Team Rocket in every way, but they also stole my smoke bomb idea." Once it dissipates, the group can see that the duo fled the scene. Max turns to speak to Megan again, when he notices that his back feels lighter. Turning around, he notes with horror that Team Terra have stolen his bag while they made their escape. "Ah! My bag's gone!" Max exclaims, looking around wildly for it. At this, Megan smirks. "I figured they went after you because they wanted one of your bags," she says, pulling out her Rotom phone. "So, I slipped tracking devices onto both bags while I was helping you out of the hole." She shows them her Rotom phone, which shows a blinking and beeping light on the screen. "They went this way," she says, heading down the path. "Follow me, and we'll get that bag back." The two follow the girl, with Max thanking her profusely.

It turns out that while running away seems to be Sarah and Sam's specialty, their ability to get away seems to still need a little work. The three friends manage to catch up to Team Terra's location but are unable to find them at first. That is, until Megan gets a good look at the surrounding foliage. "Up there!" she calls, pointing into the trees. Max and Bonnie squint into them and, sure enough, they manage to spot the pair of thieves hiding amongst some branches. Sarah looks really pissed off at this. "I told you we should've kept running!" she shouts at Sam. "But I was tired!" Sam argues back. "And anyway, how the Hell was I supposed to know they'd find us." "Whatever," Sarah complains, sounding annoyed as the two climb down from the tree. "I hope you got your rest, because we need to hightail it out of here."

But before they can, Max, Bonnie, and Megan stand in their way. "You're not going anywhere," says Max, holding his hand out for his bag. "Not until you give me my bag back." Both members of Team Terra laugh at this. "Not going to happen," says Sarah, dangling the bag in front of her in a taunting manner. "Now that you don't have a meddlesome environmentalist to interfere, we don't have to give you anything." At this, she opens the bag, and sees that the Jade Orb is still in there. She's about to taker it out, when she spots Max's notebook. Remembering him mentioning it before, she goes in to take it out and look through.

But before she can, Max dives onto her and begins to try to wrestle the bag off of her. Sam scrambles over to Sarah to help her, but Megan and Bonnie interfere. Soon, the five of them are little more than a cloud of dust and limbs as they wrestle each other for the bag. Eventually, Max is able to squirm free from Sarah's grip and kick her a few times to be sure. Bonnie and Megan come free as well, and the three of them take off running, with the two villains in hot pursuit. But, after a few minutes of running, Max comes up with another plan. He tells Bonnie to release Fennekin and Megan to release Shinx. The two do so and, following Max's orders, order them to use ember and electro ball. The moves combine like Pumpkaboo's Shadow ball and Mime Jr.'s psychic, which causes a large explosion that sends Sarah and Sam blasting off again.

Once the two were gone, Max, Bonnie, and Megan head off together for a bit, eventually coming across a pokémon centre. Once there, they let their pokémon rest and sat around at a table. Despite it only being the early afternoon, they're already tired from all of the madness. But, before they can decide whether or not to keep going or to spend the night there, Max wants to know something. Megan and Bonnie are talking about some of the inventions she has in her bag, and how similar she was to Clemont. Megan's just about to start gushing about how much of a fan she is of Clemont's work, when Max interrupts them.

"Sorry to interrupt," he says. "But I remembered you wanted to tell us something before Team Terra attacked us." Megan snaps over to him as she realises that he's right. "Oh, right!" she exclaims, remembering suddenly. "Your idea to use electric type power for batteries inspired me to make a whole load of designs. Only problem is, I only have Shinx with me, and I don't want to tire him out with all of that work. So, I've decided to set out on my own journey." Bonnie squeals with delight at this. "That's awesome Megan!" she exclaims happily. "But what about your shop?" Max asks. "Oh, me and my brother co-own it," she explains. "He agreed to take ownership of it for a while whilst I go on this journey."

Then, she stands up, bows and says, "And I'd very much like it if I could come along with you two, at least for a while! Would that be ok?!" She looks up expectantly, to see Max and Bonnie smiling at her. "Of course," says Max. "The more, the merrier." Megan cheers and sits back down with the two of them. Once she does, Max subtly shows her the Jade Orb, and quietly explains to her what it is and why Team Terra are after it. Megan listens intently, then agrees to keep this to herself, and reassures the two that this doesn't bother her. It took so long to explain all of this to her that by the time they were finished, it was already the evening. So, they book two rooms in the Pokémon centre, with Max and Bonnie making sure there were two separate beds this time, then bid each other goodnight, excited for the next leg of their journey.