It has been almost a week since the incident at the Battle Chateau. Max and Bonnie luckily managed to get out of it unscathed, but Bonnie can tell that what happened is still weighing heavily on her friend's mind. Max isn't as cheery as he was before the events of the week before. She can see that he no longer writes his entries with as much vigour as he used to, and she hasn't seen his Observant State since before Team Terra's attack. If Bonnie is being honest with herself, she misses that state, but she cannot for the life of her explain why.
Eventually, after a week of his moping, Bonnie decides to do something about it. This morning, Max is doodling one of the pokémon he sees in order to finish its entry, and Bonnie notices his heart isn't really into it. So, she sits directly in front of the pokémon he's drawing, blocking his view and startling him. "What was that for?" he asks, annoyed at the sight of the pokémon running off. "You've been really down and not yourself since we left the Battle Chateau," Bonnie replies, "and I want to know why." Max looks away, not wanting to answer. "Max," says Bonnie, kindlier than previously, "you're my best friend. I don't like seeing you like this. I'm here for you, just like you're here for me, right?" Max nods. "So, tell me what's wrong." Bonnie sits beside him and puts an arm around his shoulder, which unknowingly causes his cheeks to redden a small bit.
After sitting like this, Max finally tells her what's been troubling him. "I can't help but think that I could've stopped them," he tells her. "I was standing in the same area as the bomb. I know this is stupid, but I can't stop thinking about all of the what ifs. Like, 'what if I had been quicker and managed to disable that bomb?'" At that, Bonnie sighs. "Didn't you see the other pillars that were holding the building above the lake?" she asked. Max looks at her with confusion. "All of them had time-bombs attached to them. If you had managed to disable that one, the others would still have gone off. And who know, maybe you would've ended up buried under the rubble." Max's eyes widen as he realises that possibility. "For all we know, this could be the best-case scenario" Bonnie finishes.
Max thinks about everything Bonnie said, then smiles. "Thanks," he tells her. "I needed that." "Anytime" Bonnie replies, before getting up and cleaning up everything they used for breakfast. The two have a system where they take turns as to who makes their food and who cleans up afterwards. Bonnie can tell that Max still feels a bit down and decides to find ways to cheer him up. She finds Max's nav and goes through the route their on to Cyllage. Along the way, she spots the Aquarium of Ambrette Town, and the advertised Golden Magikarp. She remembers being there as the curator tried to catch it four years ago, and decides it'll be the perfect place to bring Max to cheer him up. Especially since they are a mere two hours walk away.
So, when Max is done with his doodle and Bonnie has their breakfast stuff packed away, the two put away their tents and set off again. Bonnie leads the way as they continue to Cyllage. Eventually, they arrive in Ambrette Town, where Bonnie turns to Max and says, "Because you've been feeling so down lately, I thought it'd be a fun idea to stop off here and show you something." Max is curious and allows Bonnie to lead the way to whatever she wants him to see. When she leads him to the aquarium, he's suddenly filled with excitement. "Think about all of the water-type pokémon that are here," she told him as they enter the building. "And, they've recently added a golden Magikarp to their collection!" Max gets stary-eyed at that, and tuns in as fast as he can, with Bonnie trailing behind, mentally congratulating herself on her brilliance.
The two end up spending over half of the day in the aquarium. Max doesn't document any of the pokémon he sees because, as he put it, "These aren't their natural habitats. I'd basically be analysing their behaviour in captivity." Despite that, he makes bullet point notes on all of the information that the aquarium has to offer, intending to expand upon them all when he sees these pokémon in the wild. During this visit, Max's Observant State returns, much to Bonnie's great pleasure.
While Max stares in wonder at the golden Magikarp, Bonnie talks with the aquarium's curator Rodman, who proudly tells her about how he managed to keep his promise to her, her brother and their friends that he will have caught the golden Magikarp. Bonnie congratulates him on the achievement, then goes to stand with Max as he continues to be in awe of the pokémon. Rodman laughs at this but decides to leave them to it. Afterall it would be a bit creepy for him to comment on the relationship of two ten-year-olds.
After their visit, Bonnie decides to bring Max to the beach where she, Rodman and the others tried to catch that Magikarp 4 years ago. The beach is just as pretty as Bonnie remembers. Max spots some of the pokémon he saw in the aquarium in the water and decides that now he should be able to document them. So, he sits by the water and begins to write about what he sees, his spark for information having truly returned. Bonnie is very happy to see this and is about to make her way over to sit next to him, when she spots someone that dampens her mood.
Trixie, the girl she fought in the Battle Chateau is on that beach and walking over to him. Not wanting to disturb Max, since she worked so hard to bring his Observant State back, Bonnie dashes over to her and stops her. "He's in the middle of something," she tells her before she can open her mouth. "He's been feeling really down since the Chateau and I finally managed to cheer him up, so whatever you wish to say, can you save it?" At that, Trixie laughs. "Well now, if I knew he was taken I wouldn't have bothered" she replies teasingly. Bonnie face goes a bit pink. "I'm not his girlfriend!" she declares. "We're only ten! And besides, he's not from here. He's from Hoenn, so maybe he already has someone there."
Trixie smirks. "You never asked him about that?" she asks. "It's simply none of my business Bonnie replies coldly. "Just as our relationship is really none of your business." "Then why do you care so much if I speak with him then?" Trixie asks. Bonnie freezes slightly. In truth, she has absolutely no idea why she cannot stand the sight of Trixie having obvious interest in her friend. Trixie takes notice of Bonnie's silence and says, "I'll tell you what Bonnie, let's have a battle, one on one. If you win, I'll leave Max alone for now. But if I win, you'll shut up and allow me to speak with him." Bonnie's anger flares at this. "I accept" she says.
The two separate a bit and enter their battle stances. Max notices what's happening, and though he doesn't know the context behind the battle, he becomes the referee. Their battle begins with Bonnie sending out Dedenne and Trixie sending out a Emolga. The battle begins with Dedenne going in with a Quick Attack. But Emolga manages to catch the Antenna Pokémon in its paws. But right before it can do anything, Bonnie yells out for Dedenne to use Play Rough. Dedenne does, which manages to free him from the Sky Squirrel Pokémon and do a bit of damage. Both parties realise that this will be a difficult battle, since electric type moves will be effectively useless on both pokémon.
Thinking quickly, Bonnie decides to try and knock Emolga out of the sky. That might do enough damage to end the battle. So, she sends Dedenne in for another Quick Attack. Unfortunately, Trixie seems to have had a similar idea, because Emolga charges in with a Quick Attack as well. The two clash in the middle of the air and begin to push at each other. But eventually, Bonnie gets an idea. She silently tells Dedenne to allow Emolga to overpower him. He does, and the Emolga begins to charge Dedenne to the ground. But at the last moment, Dedenne squirms out of Emolga's grasp, and the Sky Squirrel Pokémon slams into the ground.
However, Emolga lets out an angry cry and begins to stand up. So, before he can take to the air again, Bonnie orders Dedenne to use Play Rough again. He does and it sends Emolga flying a small bit. He crashes through the sand, before coming to a stop, swirly-eyed. "Emolga is unable to battle!" Max declares. "Making Bonnie the winner of this match!" Bonnie cheers and picks up Dedenne to hug him. She nuzzles Dedenne, who ends up electrocuting her a small bit. Max laughs, then congratulates Bonnie on her victory, much to her pleasure. Trixie returned Emolga to his ball, thanked him for the battle, then when Max's attention was occupied by something else, she quietly says, "As promised, I'll leave you two alone, for now. But just remember that from this moment on, we're rivals." "Looking forward to it" Bonnie replies cooly, silently thanking Max for having a terrible attention span normally.
Once Trixie had left, Max and Bonnie decide that it's too late to continue travelling and set off for the nearest pokémon centre. As they walk, Max grows curious about the battle he just witnessed. "Congrats on your first real rival," he tells her. "She was the girl you faced in the… you fought her before, didn't you?" Bonnie nods, understanding why Max didn't want to finish that sentence. "What made you want to become rivals anyway?" he asks. Bonnie shrugs. "She was a tough opponent and we wanted to see if it was a fluke that I beat her or not." Max accepts that answer, even though he doubts its authenticity. From what he saw, she didn't have much trouble against Trixie. As they enter the pokémon centre to see if they can get two rooms, Bonnie wonders to herself just why Trixie's interest in Max bothers her so much. Afterall, she's only known him for just over 2 months, so why did she feel this way?