Max and Bonnie find a Pokémon Centre after a few more days of travel and decide to spend the night in there. Bonnie is still thinking about her reactions around Trixie and has been doing a lot of training to take her mind off of it. Max has also been trying to take his mind off of things. He's started noticing his eye wandering towards Bonnie while she trains and can't for the life of him explain why. So, sitting there in the Pokémon Centre, waiting while their pokémon get healed becomes rather awkward as the two of them think about how they've been reacting around each other recently.
In order to stop thinking about that, they both look over at the TV. But Max quickly feels bad as the news is talking about the events around the Battle Chateau. Specifically, they're talking about how much worse the incident could've been had a young boy and girl, along with gym leader Korrina, not come running exclaiming that the building was rigged to explode. "See Max," says Bonnie reassuringly. "You saved quite a few people." Max nods, before looking away from the TV screen.
As he does, he spots a familiar looking man coming into the Pokémon Centre. Max stares at him for a few seconds before he recognises him. "Hello Mr. Donovan!" he calls, waving him over. Ammon Donovan smiles as he recognises the young boy and girl who are calling him over. "Hello Max, hello Bonnie," he says as he sits down with them. "And please, call me Ammon." Once he sits with the two, he pulls out a few pieces of paper and lays them out onto the table. "I'm glad I ran into you two," he says as he does this, "because I've run into some unpleasant characters that I've been trying to deal with for the past few days now."
"It's not Team Terra, is it?" Max asks, trying to hide his annoyance. Ammon laughs. "No, no," he says, patting Max's head. "From what I've heard, you must've had quite enough of them for a while." Both of them nod at that, which causes Ammon to laugh again. "The people I'm dealing with are little more than pokémon poachers," he explains. "But still, I cannot stand people like them. Who use pokémon and the environment around us for financial gain." Max and Bonnie look at the papers Ammon placed on the table in front of them.
There are 6 in total. The first two are files on the pokémon poachers in question. They're both from Hoenn, however Max doesn't recognise them. They're both male, the first with long wavy black hair, a scruffy black beard and grey eyes, and the second with spiky brown hair, stubble as facial hair and green eyes. The first guy's name is Warrick Down, and the second guy is called Bryson Davids. The next two files were on the pokémon the two have captured. Max's eyes widen as he reads that the pokémon being transported are two Kirlia, a male and a female.
"Are you alright Max?" Bonnie asks, noticing his reaction to the file on the stolen pokémon. Max nods. "I'm fine," he reassures them. "I just remembered a Ralts I befriended 4 years ago in Hoenn. I briefly panicked thinking this Kirlia is that Ralts, but I may just be wrong." Bonnie gives him a reassuring smile and says, "Don't worry Max. Even if they are the same pokémon, we'll help Ammon to save them and maybe you can catch it." Max smiles back and nods, before they look at the final two pieces of paper.
These two are maps of different roads. Neither of them can make sense of them. "What're these?" Max asks. Ammon looks down at the last two papers. "These are the routes the poachers have been taking over the past few days," Ammon explains. "I've narrowed it down and believe that the two will be smuggling the pokémon down this path here." He taps the route on the bottom left of the second piece of paper. "Through my connections, I've figured out what time they'll be traveling across this route, and I plan to ambush them there."
Once he finishes his explanation, he sits back and allows Max and Bonnie to read through what he worked on. But the two don't need to look over it, they've already made up their minds. "And we'll be helping you with that!" Max declares. Bonnie nods in agreement. Ammon smiles at the two of them, then leans forward again. "I wasn't expecting anything else," he tells them. "Now listen closely, here's the plan. I want to say it quietly in case these two have any allies in here that I'm unaware of." Then, he quietly whispers the plan to them.
Max sits atop a tree on the route in question. It's now the late afternoon, and in a few minutes Ammon's plan will commence. Max is keeping an eye out for the vehicle which'll be transporting the poor pokémon to wherever the men are planning to take them. However, if all goes to plan, this vehicle will be disrupted, and the men will be arrested and the pokémon freed. The thought of the poor Kirlia trapped in the vehicle made Max angry. Because he remembers the Ralts that he befriended and can't stand the thought of something happening to him. He briefly wonders how Ralts is doing, but before he can dwell on him too much, he hears the sound of an engine coming down the route.
He quickly pulls out the radio Ammon gave him and speaks into it. "The package is on this route," he says. "The delivery seems to be armoured though, so you'll need something strong to receive it." Max is speaking in code in case the truck picks up the radio waves. Ammon replies, "Good eye Max. I'll go and retrieve it now." Max watches the truck as it passes right beneath him. At that moment, a large Donphan comes barrelling into the truck, knocking it over. Max gapes at Ammon's actions, but before he can say anything, Bonnie comes sneaking up behind the truck and begins trying to open the door.
While she does that, Ammon comes charges in and sends out his Espeon. While he keeps the two men busy, Max carefully clambers down the tree and joins Bonnie in opening the truck. When they get there, they find one of the men lying dizzy on the side of the truck, with the two Kirlia tied up. Max immediately releases Treecko and has him cut the ropes. When he does, the male Kirlia looks up at who saved him, then jumps into Max's arms with a happy cry. At first Max is very confused. But the Kirlia uses his telepathy to share his memories as a Ralts. Specifically, his memories of Max taking care of him when he was 6.
Max gasps, then pulls Kirlia into a tight hug. "I can't believe it's you!" he cries happily. "I was going to come and get you while journeying through Hoenn, but my friends brought me to Kalos instead." Bonnie picks up the female Kirlia and carries her out of the truck, with Max doing the same to his old friend. But before they can get away, the man who was waiting in the truck stands up and calls out to his partner. Then, he releases a Banette and a Bronzong. Max tells Kirlia to stay behind him then sends out Mightyena. Bonnie sends out Fletchling and has the other Kirlia hide behind her too.
Mightyena kicks off the double battle with a crunch aimed for Banette, but he's countered by the Bronzong. Fletchling interrupts the counter with a peck, tackling the Bronzong to the ground and allowing Mightyena to sink his teeth into Banette. Banette cries out and shakes Mightyena off, before throwing a Shadow Ball at him. Bronzong manages to raise itself off the ground again and attempt to crush Fletchling, but she quickly darts out from under it. The man, Max recognises him as Davids, decides to pull a dirty trick. He orders Banette to hit Mightyena to use sucker punch as he charges in, causing him to flinch. While Mightyena can't move, he has Bronzong use Gyro Ball to hit the Kirlia behind Bonnie.
Fletchling cries out in anger and quickly swoops in and catches it in her claws. She battles against the heavier pokémon, determined not to let it harm her trainer. As she strains, she suddenly finds herself getting stronger. Then, she glows blue. Her wings extend and get an orange colouring at their tips, her body elongates, and she feels a new range of powers in her arsenal. When the glowing stops, Max and Bonnie stare at the Fletchinder that flutters in place of the Fletchling. Bonnie cheers at her pokémon for evolving. Then, she orders Fletchinder to use Flame Charge on the Bronzong. The attack is super effective and fires the Bronzong into Banette, doing major damage. As Banette struggles to get up, Mightyena uses snarl, knocking it out and ending the battle.
Max and Bonnie return their pokémon to their balls, pick up the two Kirlia, then Max shouts, "We've got them Ammon, let's go!" Ammon comes running and the three make their escape. Once they return to the pokémon centre, Max and Bonnie bring the Kirlia and their pokémon to Nurse Joy while Ammon calls the police. While they wait for the police to arrive, Max and Bonnie bring the two Kirlia outside and tell them they're free to go. But they don't move. Instead, Max's friend runs over to his bag and digs out one of his empty pokéballs and showing it to him. The female looks at Bonnie and points to the ball in the other Kirlia's hand.
Max gets what they're asking. "You want us to catch you?" he asks. The two Kirlia nod. So, Max takes the ball from Kirlia's hand and catches him with it. Bonnie fishes one of her own from her bag and catches the other one. Ammon smiles at the new friendships that formed, then says, "You know, both Gallade and Gardevoir can Mega evolve." Bonnie nods, showing she already knew, but Max's eyes widen. "You mean we can get mega versions of them?!" he exclaims. Ammon nods, chuckling. "Of course," he tells them. "In fact, I think I have some spare mega stones in my office in Shalour. When you get there, come seek me out and I can help you to mega evolve them."
Max and Bonnie are ecstatic with this news and agree to meet him there. After that, they wait around until Officer Jenny shows up and arrests Davids and Down. Once they're taken away, Ammon bids the two farewell and heads off for Shalour, or wherever he's going. Max wants to continue as well, but Bonnie says she's tired after all of that excitement. So, the two get a room in the pokémon centre and plan out their route to Cyllage from there, before going to sleep. As Max falls asleep, he smiles, happy to finally fulfil his promise to Ralts to catch him when he's old enough.