Chereads / The Trainer's Guide to the Pokémon World / Chapter 21 - Pokémon Rescue Association

Chapter 21 - Pokémon Rescue Association

With Megan keeping them company, the month of travel passes by in no time. They stroll through a lot of different fields and canyons, and Max's giddily writes about every single pokémon he spots. Megan is simply amazed by how much information Max is able to gather in such a short amount of time. Bonnie finds herself staring at him again while he works, still totally unable to explain why. When they're not travelling, Megan demonstrates some of the gizmos she brought with her. At first, Bonnie watches how they work from the safety of behind a rock, but after a few of them are shown, she's more comfortable with watching them closer. When Max asks why she did that, Bonnie explains, "My big brother is an inventor as well. Except his inventions have a bad habit of exploding." Max laughs his head off at that.

They also encounter Team Terra a few more times. The duo tries increasingly outlandish plans to steal Max's bag from them, but they're always foiled each and every time. Sometimes they're sent flying sky-high by their machines or by their pokémon being sent flying back at them, and other times they run away with their tails between their legs whenever their plan falls apart. "Surely they're bored of losing at this point!" Megan exclaims. Max and Bonnie laugh and shake their heads. "I don't think giving up is in their vocabulary" they tell her simultaneously.

Finally, after a month and a half of travelling, the trio reaches Shalour. At this point, Max and Bonnie have been travelling together for nearly 4 months. Once they reach the city, Bonnie leads the way to the gym. Max's jaw drops once he lays eyes on it. It's a huge island, separated from the mainland by a very large body of water. "We're a bit late," Bonnie tells them, leaning over the railings as she does. "Twice a day, a sandbank appears when the tide is at its lowest, which allows people to cross the sea and challenge the gym. So unfortunately, we need to wait until morning." Bonnie turns away from the sight of the gym and begins heading into the city. "Now if you'll excuse me," she says, "I'm going to call my brother here."

But before she can leave, Max puts a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from leaving. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asks her. Bonnie looks confused. To explain, Max pulls out a pokéball and releases his Kirlia. Bonnie's face brightens as she remembers. "Oh yeah!" she exclaims. "Ammon promised to give us Mega Stones for Gallade and Gardevoir!" Max smiles and nods, then pulls out his Rotom phone to see if he can find Ammon's building on it. While he does, Megan stares at them in amazement.

"You know Ammon Donovan!?" she asks in awe. Bonnie nods and explains how they met him. Megan chuckles at this. "You seem to know a lot of famous people," she comments. "What's next, your friends with Ash Ketchum?" Bonnie and Max laugh at that and nod their heads. "Travelled with him before he became the Monarch of the World Coronation Series" they both say. Megan's jaw drops. "Coming with you guys was definitely a great idea" she says happily. A few seconds later, Max finds the building on his Rotom phone, and leads the way over to it, with Bonnie gushing with excitement at the notion of having a Mega pokémon on her team.

But when they get there, they see that some other people have beaten them to it. Ammon is standing outside the building, with a Manectric standing beside him. Both are staring in anger at a group of maybe 10 people. With a groan of annoyance, Max and Bonnie realise that Ammon is dealing with Team Terra agents. "I've told you people many times before!" Ammon was saying as the trio approaches. "I have no interest in aiding you! You people are the reason why people disregard environmental warnings! Because they rope us all in with idiots like you, who use goals like mine as an excuse to do evil!" Their leader steps forward at this. He's a beefy man with shaggy black hair that grows upwards, piercing blue eyes, pale skin and a beard just as shaggy as his hair.

That's because you don't know what we wish to do," he says in a thick Sinnohian accent. "If you come with us and hear our boss out, I'm sure you'll see that we are the good guys." Ammon scoffs at this. "I'm sure that what I'll hear is some plan to blow everything up!" Ammon retorts. "That's not saving the environment, that's endangering the lives of people and pokémon. Now, I have to meet with some people now, so I'll give you five seconds to clear off before I make you!" No one moves. So, Ammon shrugs. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he says, then he turns to his Manectric. "Discharge!" he tells it.

Manectric howl and sends the attack flying at the agents. The group screams as the electricity courses through their body, before they're all sent flying off. Ammon brushes the dust off of his clothes, pats his Manectric lovingly, then returns it to its ball. He goes to go back inside, but then he spots Max, Bonnie, and Megan standing there. He waves at them and heads over. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he tells them, adjusting his glasses as he does. "They wanted to bring me to their base to recruit me to their cause, so I sent them away." "That was awesome!" the three of them exclaim. "So much cooler than the time you sent those two flying away with your Espeon!" Max adds. Ammon rubs the back of his head bashfully.

"Anyway," says Ammon, turning back towards his building. "How about we get you those Mega Stones that I promised you." Max and Bonnie cheer and follow him towards the building. But then they notice that Megan isn't following. "Aren't you coming?" Max asks. Megan shakes her head. "You guys go on ahead," she tells them. "He invited you to get these Mega Stones, not me. I'll just go ahead and book us a room in the pokémon centre." Before anyone can argue, she heads off. Max and Bonnie shrug, then follow Ammon into the building.

Ammon's company is a charity organisation that aims to rescue pokémon from places that are dying due to climate change. It's called the Pokémon Rescue Association, or the PRA. As Max and Bonnie walk through the branch office of the Kalos Region, they are in we of the place. The ground floor is quite similar to an ordinary office that you'd see everywhere. Except it was full of a bunch of different species of pokémon. Max sees some Litleo running around, some Munchlax snoozing on couches, and some Poliwag swimming around in a massive fish tank. Ammon smiles at their wonder. Each floor of this building is a different environment that pokémon are used to," he explains. "For example, the floor above us is like a forest. Then there's a floor full of ice, one that's like a desert, an open field, you get the idea."

He leads them to the lift and presses the button for the top floor. As they go up, he continues his explanation. "What we do here is take pokémon from struggling environments, for example a dying reef or a melting biome of snow and ice, then we bring them here where we've replicated the environments that they're used to. We keep them here and make sure they stay self-sufficient while we try to locate new places for them to live, or in some cases build one ourselves. Then, once we have one, we release them there and monitor them for a while until we are certain that they've adapted to this new environment." "This place is amazing!" Max exclaims. Ammon smiles and thanks him.

They arrive at the top of the building to find a massive office. In it is a large desk that looks out at the sea beyond Shalour, large bookshelves filled with Atlases and books about different pokémon, a pen and toys for pokémon, even a treadmill. Bonnie gets starry eyed at the sight of Ammon's Espeon sleeping in the pen. Ammon notices Max staring at some of the bookshelves and jokes, "Maybe in a few years we'll see your book on that shelf." Max blushes and rubs the back of his head.

Ammon reaches his desk and empties the contents of each drawer onto it. Max and Bonnie stare at all of the different Mega Stones that he unloads in amazement. After a few minutes of this, he finds the two that he's looking for and presents them to the two. "Here we are," he says, handing them over. "The Gardevoirite and Galladite, as promised." Max and Bonnie thank him profusely as they excitedly take the stones. Then, Ammon goes through another drawer, before pulling out two Key Stones. "These are to activate them," he explains, handing them over. "However, it may not work until you've evolved them and developed a very strong bond with these two pokémon." Max and Bonnie nod and accept the Key Stones, thanking Ammon once again.

The two make their way back down to the exit of the building and bid farewell to Ammon, who says that he hopes they'll see each other again. They set off for the Pokémon centre, where they reunite with Megan. While the two are showing her their new Mega Stones, Bonnie's face brightens as she recognises the person coming into the pokémon centre. "Korrina!" she exclaims, running over and tackling the Gym Leader in a big hug. Korrina laughs and hugs her back, then says hi to Max. Megan doesn't even bother questioning how the two know Korrina. The Gym Leader lets go of Bonnie and sits down with the three of them.

They talk for a while, with Bonnie proudly showing her the Mega Stones she and max got from Ammon. Korrina congratulates her on getting them. Then, Bonnie proclaims to her, "And don't worry, I still haven't forgotten my promise go bring Clemont over to Shalour!" Korrina laughs and thanks her. Megan looks confused at this. "Are you and Clemont dating?" she asks. Korrina sighs. "No, we aren't," she says. "Although I wish we were. Every time I see him, I get all jittery and nervous. I want to ask him out, but I'm way too nervous that he doesn't like me back."

This confuses Bonnie. "Why wouldn't he?" she asks. "You're amazing! You'd be an awesome sister!" Korrina flushes scarlet at that. "Th-th-thanks for that Bonnie," she stutters. "But I'm just worried I'm not his type. He feels like the kind of person who'd be into smart girls. Someone to understand his ramblings about machines. Someone rational. I'm not in anyway smart, and I'm quite impulsive. What chance do I have?" Bonnie stands up on the seat at this. "You have a chance!" she exclaims. "I know you do because I know that's not Clemont's type! Clemont once told me he doesn't care about people's intelligence or anything like that. He likes girls who are fun to be around and will listen to his incessant ramblings all day!" Korrina goes a bit pink at this. "I could easily listen to him talk about his inventions all day" she admits.

Max pulls Bonnie back into her chair before they get in trouble with Nurse Joy, but she keeps going. "See, you're perfect for each other! And I know for a fact that he likes you because he goes a bit red at the mere mention of your name! So, at some point before we leave, I'm going to call him and get him over here. Then you can ask him out!" Bonnie stops as she realises something. "Dang it!" she shouts. "I haven't thought of my reason for calling him!" Max puts an arm on her shoulder and says, "Why not call him after you win against Korrina. Tell him you want to celebrate getting three badges with him." Bonnie thinks about it, then nods. "That will work" she says.

Megan speaks up at this. "Em, would I be able to speak to your brother?" she asks. "Why?" Bonnie asks, suddenly worried. "Do you like him?" Korrina looks worried at this, but Megan shakes her head. "Oh, Arceus no!" she replies. "He's way too old for me. I may not look it, but I am only 14 you know!" "Then how come you own a shop?" Max asks. "I told you," Megan replies, "my brother is the one who really owns it. I just take care of it while he's out, so we technically co-own it. But that's beside the point. I want to talk to him because I want to see if I can intern under him." Bonnie and Korrina sigh in relief at this. "I'm sure he'd really like the help," Bonnie replies. "And you'll be able to see more electric pokémon!" With all of that settled, Korrina invites the four out to dinner, excited for her match against Bonnie. Both of them are excited for Bonnie's matchmaking scheme to work. In fact, as the two talk about it, Max finds himself looking forward to it as well. Maybe he might be able to use some of Bonnie's tricks to finally get May to ask Drew out.