Ambush!

Author's notes: Just so you're aware, I've changed Poochyena to a Mightyena because I forgot it evolves at the end of the episode that Max meets him in.

By the time Max and Bonnie leave the bar, it had become the evening. Figuring that it's too late for Max to check into a hotel or hostel, and it's too dark for it to be safe for him to set up a camp, Bonnie offers that he stays in her place until they're ready to leave. At first, Max refuses, not wanting to be a bother, but Bonnie wouldn't back down. He eventually accepts, feeling that Bonnie was close to just pulling him with her. With that settled, Bonnie leads him to her home.

Her house is relatively big, no kidding considering the fact that her brother is the fricking Gym Leader. She lives with her brother Clemont, and their father Meyer. The two are very nice people, and Clemont seems happy that Bonnie finally found a travelling mate. Max eats with then, then is shown the guest room. He puts his stuff down and takes out the Green Orb. He contemplates asking Clemont or Meyer if either of them recognises it, but once again, the force inside him forces him to keep it safe. He has no idea why it allowed him to tell Bonnie and those two from Team Cosmo, but no one else. Maybe it trusts Bonnie, but that doesn't account for the Team Cosmo. Max decides to stop thinking about it and get some sleep.

Despite both of their eagerness to head out on their journey, the pair ended up staying in Lumiose City for another 3 days. This is because Bonnie still needed to buy her own travelling equipment, since all of Clemont's gear had been destroyed over the years of his gadgets, quite literally, blowing up in his face. So, the two spend Max's first full day in Kalos going from shop to shop so that Bonnie could buy her own tent and cooking gear, and also various potions, berries and pokéballs that the two would need. Bonnie also takes Max clothes shopping because his outfit looked like he'd slept in it outside. Max decides that it would be best not to confirm that. Now, he sports new jacket, t-shirt and trousers, with some purple and black shoes. It's still the same colour scheme, green jacket, white t-shirt, red trousers, but now the jacket has the pokéball insignia, and the t-shirt has a yellow lightning bolt on it. By the time they were finished, Bonnie was now wearing a yellow dress, with a grey shirt underneath and a pair of white knee socks and yellow shoes. She also takes Max to her favourite eating spots while they're out.

Over the next two days, Bonnie decides that Max must see everything Lumiose has to offer before they move on. And so, she takes him to see everything in the city. She shows him the stadium where Pokémon contests are held, she lets him see the inner parts of the Lumiose Gym that is usually off limits to regular trainers, and she shows him the various parks where people like to let their pokémon out. She then lets him be as he proceeds to document the various pokémon in his notebook. "At this rate, we're going to need to buy you a new notebook before we leave" Bonnie jokes as they head back to her house that evening.

On Max's fourth day in Kalos, the pair finally get ready to leave. Max gets out the map Serena gave him and the two plot out their route. Since Bonnie really wants to challenge the Gyms and take on the Kalos Pokémon League, the two plot their route out so it goes through every city with a Gym in it. Thus, their first destination is Santalune City, where Bonnie will challenge the Bug-Type Gym Leader, Viola. So, Bonnie says goodbye to Clemont and Meyer, then sets off running down the street with excitement. Max is about to follow, when he feels a robotic arm fall onto his shoulder, giving him a fright. But it turned out to be from the bag on Clemont's back. "Please take care of her," he says. "She has the tendency to act on impulse, which often gets her into trouble. I don't want her to get hurt." Max nods. He's about to follow Bonnie again when Clemont calls out, "Oh, and make sure she doesn't ask random pretty women to take care of me!" Max is confused by this request but gives him a thumbs up. "Come on, hurry up!" Bonnie calls. Max and Clemont laugh, then Max runs to catch up with her.

The two finally set off in high spirits. Bonnie discusses strategies with Max about how she can beat Viola. Max suggests they stop in a field so that Bonnie can catch another Fire-Type, or a flying or poison. Bonnie immediately knows what pokémon she wants to catch next when Max suggests that and begins running down the road again. However, before she can get very far, the road in front of her is suddenly struck by a Psybeam. Max catches up with her and readies his Treeko. But then, out of the dust cloud, walks the two members of Team Terra from a few days earlier. Both of them are laughing.

"Would you look at that Sarah," said the man. "It seems our little trap worked." "Yes indeed," the woman replies. "My, my, you must be amazed we were able to find you again." Max leans to Bonnie. "Do you remember their names?" he asks. Bonnie shrugs. The two from Team Terra act like they had been stabbed through the heart. "We're Sarah and Sam you little twerps!" Sarah yells. "And don't you forget it!" "Anyway," says Sam. "You have something we desire. The Jade Orb in your bag. If you would be so kind as to give it to us, that would be very much appreciated." Max and Bonnie don't move. "What?" Sarah asks. "That's it?" asks Bonnie. "You're just going to show up and make your demands?" "No stupid rhyme to announce your entrance?" Max adds. Sarah and Sam's faces flush red with anger. "STOP COMPARING US WITH TEAM ROCKET YOU BRATS!" they both yell. Then, Sam reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pokéball. "You know," he says, "we were just going to let you pass if you handed the Jade Orb to us." "But you've annoyed us too much," Sarah adds, pulling out her own, "so now we're going to show you what happens when you make Team Cosmo your enemy." Then, they unleash their pokémon, Sam releasing a Mime Jr. and Sarah releasing a Pumpkaboo. Bonnie and Max stare at them for a few seconds, the same thought running through their heads, "For people who don't like being compared to Team Rocket, they sure do mimic Team Rocket."

"Now, give us the Jade Orb, or face the consequences of going against us!" Max and Bonnie look at each other, then release Dedenne and Mightyena into the battle. Immediately, Sarah orders Pumpkaboo to use Shadow Ball on Dedenne while Mime Jr. launches a Dazzling Gleam at Mightyena. Max has Mightyena disrupt the Shadow Ball with Assurance and Dedenne takes the Dazzling Gleam. Then, the two come up with a plan. Dedenne is sent running through the battlefield, while Mightyena charges up a particularly powerful Assurance. Then just as Sarah and Sam are about to order the pokémon to attack again, Dedenne unleashes a Thunder Shock that immobilises both pokémon. Then, just as Team Cosmo realise what happened, Mightyena charges in and hits both Pumpkaboo and Mime Jr. with a devastating Assurance attack. The attack is so powerful that it fires the two pokémon into their trainers, which in turn fires all four of them into the air and out of sight. Max and Bonnie look at each other, high five, then jokingly say "Looks like Team Terra's blasting off again!" at the same time and laugh.

However, right as they're about to continue on their way, a dozen or so people dressed the same as the two they just sent flying spring out of the bushes on either side of the path. Then, another man leaps from the trees. Now this guy looks like he means business. He's a tall, pale, bespectacled man with short blonde hair and a smug, punchable face. He looks more at home in front of a computer than on this road. He steps up to the two kids and says, "Sorry about those two nitwits. They were only supposed to retrieve the Jade Orb from you. But rest assured, they do not represent Team Terra." "Oh, rest assured," Bonnie fires back, "we weren't worried." The bespectacled man rolls his eyes, then says, "Anyway, enough with the idle chitchat. Just give us the Jade Orb and we'll be on our way."

"The what?" Max asks. He knows they must be referring to the Green Orb in his bag, but he plays dumb to give himself more time to think of an escape plan. The man rolls his eyes again. "Do I honestly need to spell it out?" he asks rhetorically. "The green glowing ball in your bag, what else would I be talking about!?" "Oh, you mean this?" Bonnie asks, pulling the Orb out of Max's bag before he could stop her. "Yes, that's it!" the man shouts, obviously totally done with the situation. "Now, be a good girl and hand it to us. You don't want you or your boyfriend to get hurt, do you?" "Firstly, we're not dating," Bonnie states. "And secondly, I could do that, or I could do this!" And with that, she slams the Orb to the ground. It hits the ground with a loud thunk! But doesn't break. "Well, that was disappointing" she says. A member of Team Terra bends down to pick the Orb, but before he can, Max pulls every single repel he owns out of his bag and throws them to the ground, smashing the bottles to pieces and creating a miniature smoke bomb. He then uses the confusion to grab Bonnie and the Orb and duck into the bushes.

The leader coughs and splutters as the aroma from the repels irritate his eyes and lungs. "That boy is cleverer than we thought," he says, coughing. "Spread out and find them. They can't have gone far! The boss will kill us if we don't bring them the Jade Orb!" Team Terra nod then begin to search the bushes. Max puts his finger to his lips and quietly leads Bonnie away from the scene. They don't stop crawling until the sound of the Team's futile search can no longer be heard, then they get up and break into a run. Once they feel far enough away, they stop, and Max pulls out his map. "We're going to need a place to lay low," he says. "Just until they give up searching that route." Bonnie nods. "We can't go back to Lumiose," she says, "no doubt they'll check there." She scours the map, then points at the encircled ranch. "Where's that?" she asks. At that, a lightbulb goes off in Max's brain. "That," he says, adjusting his glasses, "is where we're going to be hiding. It's a Ryhorn ranch that Ash and his girlfriend are staying in. Apparently, his girlfriend's mother lives there." At this, Bonnie brightens up. "Great," she says, standing up. "It's been a while since I've seen Serena." Max stares. "She's the one you travelled with?" he asks. "Yep," Bonnie replies. "Lead the way to the ranch, I'll tell you all about her on the way.

Sarah and Sam crash into a forest, banging into all sorts of branches on their way down. Once they hit the ground, they return their pokémon to their balls and try to get their bearings. However, it isn't long before Sarah's radio goes off. "It's C!" she exclaims, before answering. "Did you catch them?" she asks, knowing what the answer will be. "Of course not!" C replies angrily. "It's because of your showboating that they had their guards up! The boy, Maple, still had his wits about him and was able to create a makeshift smoke bomb out of repels." "That's quite clever" Sam comments. "The Boss isn't too pleased with this," C continues. "He's decided to take you two off of the case before your bumbling does any permanent damage. You must now return to your liberation assignment. That is all." "But-" Sarah begins. "That. Is. All!" C repeats, before ending the transmission.

"Dammit!" Sarah exclaims. "How are we going to prove ourselves as worthy Admins if we're stuck on liberation duty!" Sam ponders that for a moment, before coming up with a plan. "What if we continue our liberation in the same direction that those two brats are going," he suggests. "Then, we try to steal the Jade Orb from right under the boy's nose." Sarah beams at her partner. "If we manage that before C's team, we'll be Admins for sure," she says. "So, where are we headed?" Sam checks his map on his pokédex. "I believe their next stop will be Santalune City" he says. "Well then," says Sarah. "Why don't we try and cut them off."