Drawing Closer
They end up staying in Shalour for another week. During this time, Clemont brings in new inventions to check out Bonnie's Aura. Everytime he starts nerding out about the device, Korrina falls into a lovestruck trance, which Clemont, frustratingly for Bonnie, never notices. After the first test they did, Max is very nervous about Bonnie being plugged into another of Clemont's contraptions, and is always standing right beside it, ready to get her out of there the moment it begins to fizzle. Clemont takes notice of this and it amuses him, much to Korrina's exasperation.
However, after the 5th time Max has to save Bonnie from an exploding machine in the span of 2 days, Korrina manages to convince Clemont to dial the experiments down to one a day, to which he agrees. This gives Bonnie the opening she needs to begin her matchmaking operation. Max is eager to help her, so that he can get some tips on matchmaking his sister. He even has a good plan to try to get them together. But before he can suggest it to Bonnie, she puta a finger on his lips to silence him. They both quickly go red at this and quickly move away from each other.
"Sorry Max," says Bonnie. "I know you want to help me, but matchmaking is my area of expertise." Max nods in understanding. "But don't worry," she adds. "If my plans don't work, we'll try yours." Max smiles and nods, then Bonnie begins to explain her plans to him. She had three plans she wanted to try. Obviously, she had a lot more, but those are last resorts only. The reason being that they are very desperate plans with little chance of success overall. So, if her big three don't work, they'll try Max's plan.
Bonnie's first plan is a simple one. She and Max sneak around some of Clemont's machines while Megan keeps him distracted. The two sneak around the machines and pull out some of the power supplies. Clemont uses Chargibugs he caught in Alola to power these devices since he figured that using the power of pokémon would help connect to Aura easier. His devices don't hurt the pokémon, and they aren't powering them all the time. For the most part, the Chargibugs do little more than eat and sleep. Now however, they're being given an option to leave these little rooms. Max and Bonnie sneak around them and open up the doors to the docs. Thanks to the frequency at which Clemont's machines explode, it was easy to make it look like those were the cause for the pokémon escaping.
Once all of the Chargibugs are released, Bonnie runs over to Clemont to tell him so. Clemont immediately panics and looks around wildly for them. Then, he decides to split everyone up to find them. Luckily for Max and Bonnie, Clemont pairs them together, and him and Korrina, and tells Megan to stay there should any return and to fix the doors to the docking rooms. Everyone nods in understanding, then splits up.
Bonnie is once again very thankful she befriended Max. He came up with the idea to leave a pile of food nearby in order to lure some of the Chargibug. Thanks to this, the teo have a bunch rounded up in no time flat. They return them to Megan, then quietly follow after Clemont and Korrina, hoping to catch them as one confesses to the other. However, all they see is the two hunting and catching Chargibug. There are a few points where the two talk with each other, and Max can clearly see a blush forming on their cheeks, but nothing of note happens. Once all of the Chargibugs are rounded up, Korrina turns to Clemont. She looks like she's about to say something but goes red and changes her mind at the last second. Bonnie stares open-mouthed at this and resists the urge to cry out in frustration.
That frustrated cry comes from Korrina later that day. She almost slams her head against the table of the Pokémon Centre Max, Bonnie, Megan, and Clemont are staying in. Clemont and Megan are working on fixing the machines for the next day, leaving the other three to sit around and wait. "I had the opportunity!" Korrina cried. "But Clemont looked really cool, and I begsn having thoughts of him liking someone smarter than me, so I Torchiced out at the last second. I'm really sorry, Bonnie." Bonnie shakes her head. "Don't worry about it," she tells her. "I have other ideas. I will have Clemont dating you before we leave Shalour. I swear it!" Korrina thanks her, and Max laughs at her declaration, which causes Bonnie's cheeks to colour a little bit, not that Max notices.
Bonnie's second plan sounds a lot more likely to work. This time, she needs to get Korrina and Clemont alone on the beach in the evening. Hopefully the romantic air of an evening on the beach will be enough to spark their relationship. Clemont is relatively easy to convince to come to the beach of Shalour. All Bonnie really has to do is to suggest it to him as a form of de-stressing from all the times his machines have blown up and nearly hurt her. As for Korrina, she receives a small pep talk from Max in order to make sure she has the confidence to ask Clemont out. Once the two are ready, Bonnie and Max organise it so they 'accidentally' run into each other while taking a stroll.
When the two do meet up and begin talking, the sun is beginning to set. Bonnie and Max watch from some bushes as the two converse. Clemont looks visibly bashful and awkward, and Korrina looks nervous but determined. Surely, this will be a success. And it very nearly was. They talk for nearly half an hour, and by this time, Korrina has fully mentally prepared herself to finally confess. But, she can barely say the words, "Clemont, there's something I've been wanting to tell you," before the tide goes all the way out, and the land bridge to the Gym appears. When it does, a young trainer starts heading across it. Korrina swears then excuses herself, then runs to accept the trainer's challenge. Clemont heads back to the centre, and Bonnie looks like she wants to kill the trainer who interrupted the moment.
Bonnie's final plan has the biggest chance of success. While Clemont sets up his machines for that day's experiments, Bonnie and Max head into one of the forests outside of Shalour and set up an obviously romantic scene in it. This time, Bonnie isn't leaving anything to chance. She'll even take Clemont figuring out that she's been matchmaking if it means he finally has someone to take care of him. She's even going to have her and Max's pokémon use different effects to make the scene as romantic as possible. They have to split the setup into two separate parts, one to get the area in question ready, which they do before Clemont's ready, and the other to buy everything they'd need thatthe forest doesn't already have. After a few hours of work, the pair are finished. Next, Bonnie recruits Megan's mechanical knowledge to set up a few things, such as fairy lights, serene music, and other such things.
Once all of that is set up, she and Max go and bring the soon to be couple to the venue. "What if we swap roles this time?" Max suggests. "I bring Clemont and you bring Korrina. It'll make it less suspicious." Bonnie agrees with this, then begins planning an effective lie to coax Clemont over. Eventually, she tells Max to hide a part of on of Clemont's machines in his jacket and say a pokémon nicked it. Then he needs to lead Clemont to the clearing. This simple lie works like a charm, and soon enough, Clemont and Korrina run into each other the clearing. What they end up finding is a picnic area with fairy lights and a clear view of the night sky. Clemont looks around suspiciously, but before he can put two and two together, Korrina quickly sits him down and plays it off like this is a new tourist attraction for Shalour.
While the two sit together and talk, Bonnie begins setting up the rest of the plan. First, she activates the fairy lights and the music. Then, Max activates another device Megan made, causing the tree sto shake and berries to fall right in front of Clemont and Korrina. Both if them laugh at what's happening, and Korrina begins eating one of the berries. Clemont shrugs and joins in. Now all that's left to do is activate the final surprise. Max gets it ready, but before he can switch it on, he feels something suddenly grab him from behind.
When the fireworks don't start, Bonnie begins to panic, thinking the device must've faultered. But then she remembers testing it only half an hour before the two arrived. Then, she gets a bit annoyed, and figured Max must've gotten distracted by a pokémon. She marches over to where he's stationed, but before she can reach him, she hears him cry out for help. Breaking into a sprint, Bonnie reaches Max to see him wrestling with Sarah for his bag while Sam tries to pin him down. Bonnie cries out and releases Dedenne. Her cries alert Clemont and Korrina, who burst out of the clearing to see what's happening.
Korrina quickly pulls out Lucario, but before she can order him to do anything, Bonnie stops her. "Don't!" she cries. "What if you hit Max!?" At this, Clemont smiles and adjusts his glasses. "Fear not," he says. "The future is now, thanks to science! Clemontic Gear on!" He pushes a button on the strap of his bag, and the Aipom Arms emerge. This time, they're clutching strange canisters in their hands. "Introducing, the Threat Sleepers!" Clemont then has his arms throw the weird canisters at Sarah and Sam, who panic and jump back, letting Max go. "Hold your breath!" Clemont tells him just as the canisters burst open. Max has just enough time to react and block his mouth and nose, but Sarah and Sam aren't so lucky. Within seconds they're sound asleep, and Max is able to sprint back over to his friends. When he gets to them, Bonnie hugs him tightly, then checks to see if he's alright. Once she's sure he is, they all decide to return to the Centre.
After Max receives a quick check up and he's declared completely fine, everyone decides to return to their rooms for the night. In Max and Bonnie's room, Bonnie finally relents. "Alright Max," she tells him. "We'll try your plan now." Max smiles, then quickly explains what he has in mind. It's a plan so simple, yet so brilliant, that Bonnie cannot believe she didn't think of it first. She agrees to it immediately and hugs him once more, once again causing the boy to blush.
The next day, Bonnie puts Max's plan into action. She waits until Korrina and Clemont are standing right beside each other, then walks up to Korrina, gets on one knee, and declares, "Please take care of my big brother!" Clemont goes very red in the face and immediately picks her up with his Aipom arms. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that!" he shouts. Korrina laughs, then surprises Clemont by saying, "Oh it's ok, I don't mind." After a few seconds pause, she adds, "In fact, I kind of want to." Clemont drops Bonnie and wheels around. "What!?" he exclaims. "You mean it?" Korrina nods nervously, suddenly worried that Clemont doesn't reciprocate. But surprisingly, Clemont smiles. "Good," he says. "Because I would like to take care of you too." Then, blushing madly, the pair embrace.
Bonnie and Max cheer and hug each other, happy that their plans finally worked. At this, Clemont lets Korrina go, grabs Bonnie again, and excuses the two of them, before taking hwr out of earshot. "Have you two been trying to matchmake us all week?" he demands. Bonnie nods nervously. "You guys have been dancing for a while now and it's been driving me crazy!" she replies. "Also, Max wants help to matchmake his sister, so he helped me here." Clemont laughs at that. "Well then," he says sinisterly. "Firstly, thank you. I'll be honest, if you hadn't we'd probably be dancing loke that forever. But secondly, if you two want to play matchmaker, you should at least know how it feels to be on the receiving end." Then, without another word, he starts walking towards Max. Bonnie quickly realises what his plan is and tries to stop him. But she's unsuccessful. Clemont reaches Max and declares, "Please take care of my little sister."
Max goes bright red at this and starts stuttering furiously. Korrina laughs her head off at the sight of this and Megan looks on, extremely confused. Bonnie meanwhile stops trying to pull Clemont back. She lets go of his bag, then walks over to one of his inventions incredibly red in the face. She holds onto it and tells it, "Please, I'm begging you. Explode."