"Sapphire said we would meet up here. Where is she…?" Ruby pondered to himself, glancing around while adjusting his new knit cap. Since the two Dexholders were preoccupied with their training, there was little time for much else. Now that Emerald was more open to them, it lessened the time the two could be together alone. Not that Ruby minded though. Honestly, he was just happy that Sapphire didn't hold anything against him for his occasional trespasses, or at least not as far as he knew. She did seem to get irritable or nervous whenever someone brought up Mirage Island or the battle against Groudon and Kyogre, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

Sighing at the absence of his colleague, he rested on the bench near him and zipped open the main pocket of his backpack. Reaching inside for something, he pulled out a rugged, dirty piece of printer paper. Though he knew what it said, he proceeded to read it anyway. The words were written in a messy scrawl and lacked any complicated wording, but even so, it was legible.

"Hiya, Ruby! I was gonna ask ya if ya wanted to hang out later when nothin' was happenin'! It's been a long time since we've done anythin' with jus us two, y'know? I couldn't find ya, so I wrote this and left it on yer desk at yer house. Meet me at Rustboro near the Devon Corp. at around 3:00 PM, and bring yer Pokémon while yer at it! We can train after we stroll around or somethin' like that. See ya there!"

She had signed her name at the bottom, and it was by far the most legible word. She must have practiced it many times before.

"-Sapphire"

He gazed up to the sky above him. No clouds, no Bird Pokémon, nothing. Only blue. Blue like the color of her bandana. Blue like the color of her shirt. Blue like the color of those beautiful, deep eyes that he could get lost in for hours, days, months, years…

"RUBY!"

Within moments Ruby found his shoulders scrunched up and the paper in his lap. Standing before him was the wild-woman herself. Her arms and legs were colored with dashes of brown and black, and in her right palm she held an array of berries. Her hair contained a few tangles and twigs, but was otherwise uniform. A grin was sprawled across her face, exposing her tiny fangs.

"Huh?" Ruby asked, looking at her berry cargo. This wasn't rare for Sapphire to carry some berries with her, but usually they were in her bag. Why she had them all out now was a mystery.

"Ya thought I was late, didn't ya?" The question left her mouth in a snide remark, as if trying to prove him wrong.

"Y-yeah…"

"Then, check this here Pokégear!" She suggested, holding out a Pokégear with her free hand that Ruby didn't recognize. The digital dial displayed the numbers 2, 5, and 5, followed by the letters P and M in that order. Ruby's eyes widened.

"Huh. Well, would you look at that. Where did you get that Pokégear, though? I've never seen you with it."

Sapphire looked a little off to the side.

"I kinda took it from my Pop…"

"Oh."

He didn't bother asking about why her figure was so messy. The most probable situation he had figured was that she'd just gone out to get the berries she was now holding. He disregarded it.

"Ah! Anyway, these're for you." Sapphire explained, lifting the berries closer to Ruby's face. Though the hand somewhat obscured his view, he could see that her mouth was fidgeting a little, and her face shown the slightest hint of pink. Perhaps that was why she had placed her hand so close.

"Thank you…" Ruby said with his voice trailing off as he reached out for and grabbed the morsels. Upon inspecting the girl again, he saw her hands rush behind her back.

"Of course. I thought ya might enjoy 'em. The Pecha Berries taste awful sweet, but I don't like 'em much. I figured ya could use 'em for yer Pokéblocks or for feedin' yer Pokémon. Whatever ya do with 'em is up to you." She rambled a little, shifting feet ever so slightly.

"Sweet, huh?" Ruby asked, referencing the Pecha Berries now in his hands. They glistened with the luster of freshly picked fruit. He knew she had taken special care in picking the better specimens.

"Anyway, if yer not busy, do ya wanna maybe go fer a walk? In the woods? Near Petalburg?" There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes that he would agree. With a nod, Ruby placed the berries in his bag and stood up.

"Sure."

Sapphire's face faded to be a bit less pink, and she gulped and excitedly grabbed hold of his hand before dashing off, dragging Ruby behind.