Litleo and the Giant Magnet
Three days have passed since Bonnie won her badge. She and Bonnie are making slow progress through the region since Max likes to stop and document any pokémon he sees. Bonnie often wonders why he never catches one but doesn't question him about it. After all, Ash, Serena and Clemont didn't catch every pokémon they came across either. But Bonnie still thinks it's weird that someone who's goal it is, is to document every pokémon doesn't catch more. Eventually, after three days of travel, Bonnie curiosity gets the better of her. "I've always wondered why you don't catch some of the pokémon you document" she comments after seeing him taking notes on a pack of Furret. Max looks at her. "Because that would be disrupting their behaviours" he says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Bonnie however remains confused.
"I'm trying to observe pokémon's behaviours," Max explains. "That means, how they interact with the world around them in the wild. If I were to catch one, I wouldn't be observing them since they'd be interacting with things because I asked them to. It's not natural." He stands up and pulls out his four empty pokéballs. "I'm saving these for the pokémon I encounter with their own unique personalities," he explains. "Kind of like the pokémon Ash caught. I want all of mine to have a noticeably different personality to the other pokémon of its species." Bonnie understands and nods her head. Then, she goes back to training her team. While Max looks for personality, Bonnie wants a team of strong and cute pokémon, that would interact well with her own. So far, she hasn't found anymore pokémon that catches her eye like Fletchling did.
Max continues to write about all of the different pokémon that he sees. Eventually, he comes across a small, playful cat pokémon, slinking around in the grass. Max scans it, finding out that it's a Litleo. Max watches it for a while, silently taking down its characteristics and traits. But then it spots him. Max freezes. He has no idea what to do in this situation. Litleo's evolved form is a Pyroar, and Max doesn't want to stick around in case one of those shows up and decides that he may be a threat to their child. The Litleo begins to slink over to Max, who starts panicking. He runs through what you should do when a pokémon slinks over to you, but those only really apply to dog pokémon like Mightyena and Houndoom, not cats like Litleo and Pyroar. But before Max can come to a decision, the Litleo pounces.
Bonnie is busy training her pokémon, when she hears Max scream with fright. Worrying that Team Terra may have done something, Bonnie sprints over to him. However, instead of Team Terra, Bonnie sees Max being wrestled to the floor by a playful Litleo. Max's cries of fright are quickly replaced by giggles as the Litleo proceeds to nuzzle and tickle him. Bonnie stands there, watching as her friend plays with the Litleo. After a few minutes of this, the Litleo stops nuzzling Max. It starts slinking again, towards Max's pokéballs. Before either Max or Bonnie can stop it, it grabs one of his empty ones and takes off down the field. Bonnie walks up to Max and says, "Is that what you meant by unique personality?" Max turns to her and smiles. "That's exactly what I meant" he replies, before they chase after the Litleo.
The two run around the field for a bit, trying to get the pokéball out of Litleo's mouth. After chasing it for over 5 minutes, Max comes up with a plan. He picks up a rock and a few berries, then he uses the juice of those berries to paint the rock like a pokéball. He gets Litleo's attention and waves the fake pokéball over his head, then he throws it. Litleo yips excitedly and runs after it, dropping the pokéball it had in its mouth in the process. Max quickly picks up the ball again, then runs after Litleo. Litleo becomes excited and begins running around Max's legs. Max lets the pokémon calm down, then bends down to speak with it. "Hey little guy," he says kindly. "You seem to be quite the friendly ball of energy. I can relate to that as well." Then, he holds out the pokéball to Litleo. "I was wondering if you'd like to join me on my journey?" The Litleo sniffs the ball, then nods its head.
However, as it's about to tap the button with its nose to be caught, the serene field is interrupted by a loud rumbling. Max, Bonnie and the Litleo look around wildly, trying to see where it's coming from. They turn around and spot a giant crane with a magnet attached to its arm. Inside the cockpit are none other than Team Terra. "And I thought Team Rocket were over the top" Bonnie mutters. Sarah and Sam laugh as they hop out of the cockpit. "Behold brats," Sarah gloats as she and her partner approach. "With this magnet, we'll be able to steal the Jade Orb from your bag." Sam nods his head. "So, don't bother trying to resist us," he says, "because not even you can resist the laws of magnetism!" Bonnie and Max both sweat drop. "Are they aware that the Orb isn't magnetic?" Bonnie whispers to Max. Max shakes his head. "Probably not" he replies.
Max quickly catches Litleo, then he and Bonnie begin to slowly back away as Sarah returns to the crane and presses a button on the control panel while Sam remains outside ready to catch the Orb. The magnet starts up and begins attracting random magnetic items. The Orb, however, remains firmly in Max's bag. Sam looks confused. "It's not working Sarah!" he calls. Sarah responds by turning the magnet up to full power. Random items start floating out of their pockets, including pokéballs. Max sees this and quickly releases Litleo. Bonnie does the same with Fletchling. The two move to release their other pokémon, but the balls fly out of their hands. As Max runs after them, he feels his glasses fly off of his face. Suddenly, the world goes blurry, and he trips over. "Are you alright?" Bonnie asks, kneeling down to check on him. Max nods. "I'm fine," he answers. "But the magnet took my glasses!"
Bonnie turns to Fletchling. "I need you to fly up there and find a way to disable that magnet and get Max's glasses back. Take Litleo with you, she may be of some help!" Fletchling nods, then carefully wraps her claws around Litleo's shoulders. Then, the two pokémon take to the skies. As they fly off, Bonnie looks at Team Terra as they fumble with the magnet's controls, trying to regain control of it. She then makes sure the Jade Orb is still in Max's bag, before helping him to his feet. Then she watches as the two pokémon reach the magnet.
The flight up is dangerous, but Fletchling is determined to help her master. Once she and Litleo reach the top, Fletchling drops Litleo onto the top of the crane's arm. She then flies around the arm in case she falls or when she gets the job done. Litleo, meanwhile, runs around the arm, using tackle and ember on any important looking wire she sees. Eventually, the magnet turns off and starts dropping the items that were attached to it. Fletchling dives after the glasses and flies them to her master. While she does, Litleo continues to attack the magnet, eventually causing it to fall off of the arm. Fletchling drops the glasses on her master's lap, then flies up to help Litleo while her master puts the glasses back on her mate's face. She grabs Litleo from the arm and the two return to the ground.
Sarah sees the magnet coming loose from the crane and quickly exits the cockpit. A few seconds later, the magnet lands on the cockpit, completely crushing it. Max thanks Bonnie, Fletchling and Litleo, then stares Team Terra down. Not that Team Terra notice, because they're too busy dodging the stuff their magnet drops. "I told you this was a bad idea!" Sam yells. "Then why did you go along with it?" Sarah retorts. "Look, they've got their pokémon and we're surrounded by falling debris. Let's make a break for it and come after them another day!" Sam nods, then the two quickly grab their pokéballs and leg it out of there.
Max and Bonnie laugh at the sight, then give each other a high five. As Bonnie feeds the two pokémon some berries for a job well done, Max checks their map. As he scans the route, something catches his eye. "Hey Bonnie!" he says. Bonnie stands up and looks at him. "Yes?" she asks, peering over his shoulder at the map. "There seems to be some sort of Battle Chateau about a week and a half away by walking. Do you want to go check it out?" Bonnie nods. "Ash challenged it when he came here!" she tells him. "It'll be so much fun! And good practice for the Cyllage gym." Max smiles at his friend's enthusiasm. "Then let's go" he says, before pocketing the map. Now, with an even stronger team between them, the two head off for the Battle Chateau.