Maxie was sitting at his desk. I mean literally, he wasn't using the chair; he was just sitting on the desk itself while drinking more sake in frustration.
Blaze and Zenith came to him and gave him the orbs and all that, and that was great, if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't use them. Plus, with the attacks from Team Aqua and Zenith leaving, saying he was gonna take some time off to recover, which was BS and they all knew it.
And to top it all off, he could tell Blaze was starting to have some doubts about his loyalty. He might have to "get rid" of him later. And then there was Courtney, who was starting to act even more aloof than before.
Believe it or not, Courtney is actually a super-genius researcher and scientist. That's the main reason Maxie took her in. But in case you didn't notice based on how she talks, she isn't all right in the head. For one, she has a speech impediment, and for another, her mind is kinda messed up in the sense that she processes things like a child.
And because of that, Maxie had also been noticing her mental state deteriorating for some reason. Like she was on the verge of some kind of mental breakdown caused by her childlike mind. But he didn't know what caused it, and to be honest, he didn't care.
All he wanted was to make sure that Courtney served all the usefulness she could give. After that, he could dispose of her too. Too bad that, in Courtney's current state, she hadn't really gone out on missions. Instead, she sat in her room kicking her feet on the bed for hours at a time.
The only one he could really trust right now was Tabitha, of all people. Sure, he made jokes and laughed more than Maxie would like, but when his other options were what he had, it wasn't so bad. And that's why Maxie gave Tabitha the orbs for safekeeping, since something told him that Zenith wasn't exactly too keen on going with his plan to just make more land.
But back to the orbs and why he couldn't use them. Thanks to the scanner and all the information they had, they learned that they would need to go to the Seafloor Cavern to use the orbs properly. The only problem was that while he may have a special submarine that he stole, Team Aqua had a special part that could upgrade it to actually go down deep enough.
He hated to admit it, but at the moment, as things were now, he couldn't do anything with the orbs, which meant his plans were put to a stop. And that annoyed him so much that he threw his bottle of sake at the wall, shattering it. Then he got even more frustrated since he didn't have any alcohol to drown his sorrows with.
But in that moment, a female grunt with her hood up walked in holding another bottle and walked up, pouring it into his cup.
"Sir," she nodded.
Maxie was too drunk to even care to look at who it was. He just drank the sake, then held out his cup for her to refill. As he was getting more tipsy, the girl suddenly started whispering something.
"What if we speak to Team Aqua and get them to make a temporary alliance, and when we have what we want, we can betray them?" she said.
Before Maxie could look at the grunt to get more context, she turned, put the bottle down, and walked out of the room. And Maxie was too drunk to care.
But also, since he was drunk, his mind slowly started blurring out the fact that there was ever a grunt in the room, but it left the idea in his mind and made him think.
Meanwhile, outside of the room, the girl went around the corner, and under the hood she smiled, because under that hood was Zinnia.
She pulled out a notebook and checked another box. Now all the pieces were set. Now all she needed to do was wait, and soon she'd be able to sweep in and get Rayquaza, and then she'd be able to avenge her sister.
But even with revenge, she knew that there was something more important than just her revenge, something that took priority. But that's not to say that if the chance came up, she wouldn't take it.
—
A day later, at Lilycove City's TV Center, Archie walked out of the building in his business suit. He had come here for some meeting. Honestly, it was all a pain, especially since he also needed to get rid of any evidence or sightings of Team Aqua.
Archie sighed, rubbing his temples as he put up a polite smile, waving goodbye to the security while he walked to the parking lot toward his car.
While he walked, he was also thinking of the situation they were in. So far, things had been such a pain, with the attacks at some of the outer bases and grunts getting captured. Not to mention Matt was still in recovery, but at least he was walking again.
Amber had slowly started having some second thoughts since it seemed like they were causing more problems than they were solving.
And then there was Audrey. So far, he hadn't heard anything from her ever since the base she was in was destroyed by Team Magma. He really wouldn't care if it weren't for the fact that Professor Cozmo was there.
It's a shame. It would have been nice to use him more, since the scientists in Team Aqua were nonexistent. Technically Shelly would be the closest thing they had to one, and she wasn't really the research kind of girl.
But she was mostly tasked with monitoring the Weather Institute at the moment, because that place still held valuable data they would need.
But speaking of data, for some reason all the data they had on the orbs disappeared, and instead it was filled with information on something called Reversion. That made Archie really mad, to think that his plans might be getting stopped because of some glitch.
But he sighed. He would have to look into it later tonight and potentially drag Audrey out of wherever she was hiding. And if Cozmo was dead at the bottom of the sea, oh well. He'd have to fabricate a news story for that later. Not his problem right now.
But as he got to his car, he pulled out his keys. Then his instincts kicked in and he tilted his head to the right as a black horn shot past where his head was and went through his window.
Then he heard a voice, "Dressing up as workers from the waterworks department, huh? Your members sure do play make-believe, huh Archie?" a mocking voice came from the shadows.
Archie's eyes narrowed as he turned and threw out a Poké Ball, sending out his Walrein.
"Who's there?" But part of him already knew.
Just then the black horn in his car window started lighting up. Archie noticed it, so both he and his Walrein quickly jumped back as sparks flew again and then a bright explosion of fire erupted out of the horn.
And in the fire, Maxie's face started forming, with that same frown and those stupider glasses of his. Then as the fire flickered away, there he was, sitting on the hood of the car with his Houndoom already out.
Archie narrowed his eyes, "Maxie…"
Maxie returned the gesture, "Long time no see, Archie," he said. Then he narrowed his eyes, "I tire of you and your chicanery."
Archie realized what he was talking about, but instead he got a smirk on his face, "What are you talking about?"
"Ha!" Maxie barked out a laugh, "Don't pretend you don't know."
He jabbed a finger toward Archie, "I have no idea how you managed to become the chief of the television stations across Hoenn, but I do know why you did it. You've been broadcasting everything about Team Magma's skullduggery on the TV news and making sure to keep Team Aqua out of the spotlight. You control the media, so you control the message!"
"Ha ha, so you noticed, huh?" Archie laughed and raised his hands in mock surrender.
Maxie grit his teeth, "Thanks to you, the 'organization with the red uniforms' has become infamous, which has made it very hard for us to accomplish anything."
Archie shrugged, "I'm sure you'll think of some way around it. Unless you're giving up, are you?"
Maxie grit his teeth harder. Originally he only came here to talk, but now he changed his mind, "You're...extremely annoying!"
Maxie jammed his arm forward while Archie put his hands behind his back confidently, and Houndoom shot out a [Flamethrower] while Walrein shot out a [Hydro Pump]
The two blasts shot at each other and clashed, causing them to become steam that started covering the parking lot. Thankfully it was night, and this mist could also hide the fire.
Now, if you're asking why the security hadn't come in, well, it's because they were both undercover Team Aqua grunts that Archie put in charge, and he gave them strict orders in situations like these not to step in.
Anyway, Maxie was fuming as he looked at Archie's smug face, "Let's settle this like men!"
Archie just kept his smile, "Just don't cry like a baby when you lose."
Then they both called out at the same time:
"Houndoom!"
"Walrein!"
And both Pokémon ran toward each other to let the fight begin.
—
{Meanwhile}
Back at Mossdeep City, after lunch and the group hanging out, they went full circle and were having dinner at a nice restaurant. Oh, and Abby finally showed up to go pick up Brock.
And when Brock finally joined them, he looked refreshed. He didn't even look slightly offended that they did the Gym battle without him there. It wasn't even on his mind. He spent most of the night on his phone texting Lucy, and everyone tried to ignore him.
But hey, on the bright side, he was too distracted with that to try flirting with the waitress when she came over and asked everyone what they wanted to drink.
"Anyway, so what are you guys' plans next?" Liza asked.
Ash put his arms behind his head, "Yo May, I hear there's a contest gonna happen over at Purika City. Wanna stop by there?"
"Uh, sure, that'd be great," May said slightly off guard and through a mouthful of breadsticks.
"You could at least try to sound a little more grateful," Max jabbed, and it totally wasn't because he was trying to get May to give Ash a thank-you hug.
And based on what Max had been noticing, he figured out that May was slowly getting more and more used to Ash, which was good on one hand because that meant they could hang out together more and they'd have more in common. But on the other hand, that meant May wouldn't have her old explosive reactions. He did hear from Ash how, on the way after he saved May, she acted all shy.
It's a shame he couldn't replicate it himself, but he'd have to make do with what he could do, even if it was something small.
But Max got interrupted from his plotting when Brendan slammed his hand on the table, "Oh wow, I forgot you were doing that. How many do you have now?"
May swallowed the bread in her mouth and held up three fingers as she beat her chest trying not to choke, "I've got three, and hopefully this can be the fourth," she cleared her throat as she quickly took some water to wash down the bread.
Brendan leaned back in his chair, "Man, that's cool. You guys really do things fast. It's not even Christmas and Ash caught up to me, and you've almost got all your ribbons. Makes me a little jealous, no offense."
"None taken," Ash said.
"Well, I'd love to join you guys, but actually, I have to go back to Littleroot Town. My dad wants me to help him with another research project," Brendan apologized and bowed his head.
"Oh no, it's fine," May quickly shook her head, trying to make Brendan raise his head up.
"Yeah, no worries man," Ash quickly added, "You've got stuff to do. We understand."
Brendan huffed, crossing his arms and thinking, "But still, I would have liked to support both of you. We're friends after all." Then he snapped his fingers, "Oh, I've got it! How about when you get to the Grand Festival, I'll definitely be there and I'll be cheering you on!"
Brendan said excitedly as he stood up and leaned over the table closer to May, making May laugh nervously, "Eh...hehe, okay."
Max quickly got up and pushed Brendan back, "Okay, give my sis some space," he said. Before, he didn't think Brendan could be a threat, but now he might have to keep an eye on him.
Meanwhile Brendan just sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Ha, sorry, I get a little carried away." Then he turned to Ash and smirked, "And Ash, next time we meet we're gonna battle, and I'm gonna beat you!"
"You sure about that?" Ash smirked back, "We'll just have to see."
As Ash and Brendan were gonna start some more banter, Brock let out another dreamy sigh, "Ahh, Lucy…"
And that made everyone immediately cringe. Then to make it worse, Brock looked up from his phone and looked at Ash, "Hey Ash, can I borrow Abby one of these days to go visit Lucy?"
"Wha? Bro, I'm not gonna give you Abby to go on a date. Go train your own Psychic-type to teleport you. In fact, didn't you catch a bunch of Lunatone? Why don't you call and get one of those?"
"Yeah I could, but…" Brock looked down and whispered, "Lunatone was gonna be for Salvadore…"
"Bro! You got like three of them. I don't think he's gonna care if his choice between three becomes a choice between two," Ash huffed, rubbing his temple.
Brock immediately looked offended, "Hey! I care about fairness."
Ash stared at him flatly, "You literally just said you wanted free teleportation to your girlfriend."
May snorted into her drink while Brendan nearly fell out of his chair laughing.
Across the table, Tate leaned toward Liza slightly, "Do you think this is what adulthood looks like?"
Liza looked horrified, "I hope not."
Meanwhile Brock crossed his arms defensively, "Look, Lucy is all the way at the Battle Frontier. That's really far."
"And?" Ash asked, "Bro, just train one. I can barely get Abby when I need her. You think I can just call her every time you want to go on a date? Dude, I'm happy for you, but don't make it a me problem. This is a you thing. You figure it out however you want."
Brock sighed, "Fine, I'll call home and ask my dad to send me one of the Lunatone that Salvadore didn't want."
Liza raised her hand, "Hey, if you want, I can give you some tips on training Lunatone," she offered politely.
Brock's eyes twinkled as he shot toward her, "Really? Okay, I'm all ears. Tell me everything you know," Brock said, pulling out a notebook from seemingly nowhere.
Liza laughed nervously. She was starting to have second thoughts, but she did offer to help. She couldn't really back out now.
But her eyes went over slightly to Ash and Tate, hoping for at least some backup. But Tate whistled and looked away while Ash looked back at the menu, making her cough in betrayal.
So begrudgingly, she started telling Brock a training plan for Lunatones, and Ash ordered her dessert afterward, so everyone ended the night happy.
—
Later in the night, while the gang went off to the hotel that Brendan booked for them and the twins went off to their home, Ash snuck out and went to meet up with the twins, something they talked about earlier since they had to talk about something important. He could have taken Pikachu and Vee, but those two goobers were in a food coma, so he let them sleep in their Pokéballs.
Then Ash found their house since he had been here before, you know, after he saved them from what happened up in the mountain, and he walked toward it.
Ash barely got halfway up the walkway before the front door swung open.
"Heheheh! I knew it was you!" Tate grinned proudly, floating upside down a few inches above the floor before correcting himself and landing properly, "I sensed you coming."
From deeper inside the house, Liza's voice echoed out, "You said that about the mailman earlier too!"
"That one almost counted," Tate defended immediately.
Ash snorted, "Nice prediction, psychic boy."
"Hey!" Tate puffed his cheeks, "I'm getting better!"
Liza appeared from around the hallway a second later wearing oversized moon-pattern pajamas, her hair slightly messy now that she wasn't trying to look presentable in public.
"Hehe! You actually came," she smiled.
"Well yeah," Ash shrugged, "I said I would. We have to talk about you know what," he said, not wanting to say it out loud where someone could hear them.
Liza immediately looked more serious at that reminder, "Oh...right."
Ash got pulled inside and Tate closed the door. They moved to the living room where Ash sat on the couch across from the twins.
"So have you both been faring ever since what happened at Mt. Pyre?" Ash asked.
"Hey, we've been getting stronger. If we face them again, I know we could kick their butts!" Tate said first.
"Even though I appreciate the enthusiasm and I'm proud," Ash lowered his voice, "that's not what I asked."
Tate's grin faded a little at Ash's tone, and Liza slowly looked down at her hands, "Oh…"
Ash leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees.
"I know you two are training hard," he said more gently, "And honestly? You've both gotten way stronger already. I can tell." He glanced between them, "But I'm asking if you're okay."
Tate opened his mouth immediately, "We're fi—"
Liza elbowed him before he could finish, "Ow!"
"He asked seriously," Liza mumbled.
Tate puffed his cheeks a little before slumping back into the couch, "…I dunno," he admitted quietly.
Ash stayed silent, letting him continue.
Tate scratched at his sleeve awkwardly, "At first I was just angry. Like...really angry." His eyes narrowed remembering it, "Those guys showed up outta nowhere, beat us, took the orbs, and then you had to save us."
"You almost died," Ash corrected calmly.
That immediately killed the remaining energy in the room. Liza curled her legs up slightly on the couch, "…Yeah."
Ash sighed internally. He wasn't trying to make them feel bad, but pretending it hadn't happened wouldn't help either. It was better if they knew what could happen because there probably would be a next time.
Tate clenched his fists, "We're Gym Leaders, and we couldn't even stop two guys in pajamas from taking the orbs."
Liza also looked down and hugged a pillow close, tightening her grip on it slightly.
Ash watched both of them carefully, then he sighed.
"And the Pokémon Association?" Ash asked, "Did they do anything after the report?"
Tate immediately looked annoyed, "No. I did everything. I sent it in, but they aren't doing anything about it. And Liza and I can't even try to find them on our own because we're stuck here running the Gym. It's like they don't care."
"I see…" Ash muttered. That unfortunately confirmed some things he was thinking but never had enough proof to justify investing more time into. This pushed it over the edge, the Association was evil.
He might need to hack into the official League servers to get more information, but that was something he would have to do on his own.
For now, he had to deal with Tate and Liza, who were both looking down, not wanting to look at him, fearing that Ash might be disappointed in them.
But Ash just cleared his throat and a slow smile came onto his face, "Well, I guess we're on our own, huh? But that's not the worst. After all, I'm here."
That made the twins look up in confusion only to see Ash's sunny smile that he perfected over the years, "Next time, you'll just have to be so strong you don't fall for their tricks."
"And until then," he said more quietly, "as long as I'm still in Hoenn, you can call me anytime."
Both twins looked up immediately.
"Ash…" Liza blinked.
Tate looked at him carefully, "Even if you're far away?"
Ash laughed, "Bro, I've crossed multiple regions at once when my friend told me they needed help with something. A little trip across Hoenn isn't gonna stop me," he said as he also had a small nostalgic smile thinking of Liko and the gang. He should check up on them one of these days to see how they're doing.
Oh, and also the next batch of episodes came out in dub, so he could binge-watch all of them so that the next time he ran into them he could be prepared.
But for now, he could stay here and help out the twins however he could. But maybe he'd call dibs on Zenith. After all, he had some unfinished business he would like to 'talk' to him about
---
{Ok, so quick thing of note, i might not be able to uplode tomorrow, since i have something ive got to do all day from like 7am until like 9 pm minimum, if i can great, but if not, well bleh}