Savagery
By: Aubrie1234
Sapphire and Emerald weren't sure what to think of the call they got from Ruby, but knew it was serious and worrying. Sapphire had gotten it in the middle of a battle with Emerald and answered it quickly, not bothering to check the caller ID.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Sapphire!" It was Ruby, and he sounded unnaturally scared and out-of-breath, "Saph, I don't care where you are or what you're doing, you need to come to the Petalburg Woods NOW!"
"Why?" Saph asked, now paying attention. Ruby had never sounded like this, as far as she could remember. And why was he even in the woods in the first place?
"Something's wrong with Nana! She's-" That's as far as the call got before it was cut off. This alarmed Saph, as Ruby's calls were never stopped so short or cut off.
"What was the call about?" Emerald called, curious. One minute, Saph was excited and energetic, but now looked fragile and scared.
"I don't know, but Ruby sounds like he's in trouble!" Quickly, both of them returned their pokemon, where Sapphire brought out Troppy. Both kids climbed on and Saph directed him towards Petalburg Woods while Emerald called the other Dex Holders.
"Ruby! RUBY!" Saph called, as did Emerald, when Troppy landed. They were hoping nothing was wrong, or at least, nothing too big.
"I wonder what happened to Nana that made Ruby so scared." Emerald asked, having been told about the contents of the call on the way over.
"I just wanna know what happened ta him."
"Trop!" Troppy agreed, following behind. They continued to walk through the forest, which was too quiet to be natural, anxiously looking around.
"Somethin's not right..." Saph whispered. Troppy suddenly tensed, glancing around. Noticing this, the kids took shelter under the pokemon, fingering their pokeballs. It was a minute before the pokemon relaxed and continued forward. Sapphire and Emerald followed him, glancing at each other.
"What do you think he sensed?" Emerald asked.
"Don't know, but it was somethin' big." Saph said, "I could sense it a bit, too." Emerald nodded. Suddenly, Troppy stopped again and the kids looked at him. He used a leaf-wing to point forward, through the bushes. There was a low-lying growl coming from the other side, along with some hissing. Saph edged forward and looked through it, Emerald doing the same. Both gasped at the sight they found.
Kiki was hissing, back arched, and clawing at a growling Nana. Ruby was past Kiki, on his side and unmoving, and his hat was nowhere to be seen. Near the two kids were his pokeballs, two of them empty. Except for the empty ones, the others were slightly cracked and couldn't be opened, though Mumu, Feefee, Rara, and Fofo were trying desperately to get out to help their trainer.
Their gasps seemed to have gotten Nana's attention, as she turned to face them. Using that opening, Kiki leapt at Nana and used Iron Tail on the Mightyena, managing to knock out the Dark-type. Panting, Kiki looked up at the kids and Troppy before collapsing in an exhausted faint. Quickly, the kids went forward to check on the pokemon and their friends. Emerald returned the two pokemon while Sapphire checked on Ruby. Turning him onto his back, Saph covered her mouth as she gasped.
There were claw marks across Ruby's chest, bleeding, as was a major bite wound on his left shoulder, almost to his neck. Both seemed to be deep as well. Quickly, Saph checked for a pulse, sighing with relief when she found one on his wrist, although it was quite weak. Saph looked over to call Troppy when she saw Emerald putting some sort of device around Nana's pokeball.
"What's that?" she asked. Emerald glanced up at her, then back down at the gadget. It looked like an X that bent over the pokeball, clicking in place when the ends met There was also a tiny, almost unnoticeable slot right above where the ends met.
"Crystal gave it to me, in case I had to return one of my pokemon without calming them. It's supposed to keep the ball closed, so the pokemon can't get out. What about Ruby?" Sapphire glanced back at her crush.
"Troppy!" The Tropius came over, eyes widening when he saw Ruby, "We need to get him to the Petalburg Hospital as soon as possible, okay?" Troppy nodded and laid down to make it easier for her to move the boy onto his back. When Saph picked up Ruby, Emerald saw the older boy's injuries and was speechless. Once she was sure Ruby was secure on Troppy's back, she leapt on behind him.
"Ya coming?" she asked Emerald, though her voice was shaking. Numbly, he nodded, and climbed on behind her. Ruby was in front of her, Saph holding him up in a sitting position.
"Go!" she ordered the pokemon, worried that Ruby's pulse may stop at any time. As the Tropius took flight, Emerald called the hospital, arranging for an emergency crew to be ready.
"Thanks, Archy." The Arcanine nodded as he was returned. After getting Emerald's call almost a day ago, Crystal had rounded up Silver and Gold and had them come to Hoenn with her. The call had been a bit vague, as Emerald hadn't known all the details at the time, either, only that Ruby may have been in trouble.
Of course, Silver was willing to go along and even offered his Feraligatr to take them, using Surf. It was more of a challenge to get Gold, though, but they managed to, and Crystal took Silver up on his offer, as it was the quickest way to get to Hoenn. After getting to the mainland, they rode Archy from Littleroot to Petalburg, meeting up with the Kanto Dex Holders on the way. Blue and Green were riding Blue's Charizard while Red and Yellow rode Aero, and upon getting to the hospital, they found the Unova Dex Holders also having just gotten there. The Sinnoh Dex Holders were probably there already, as Sinnoh was the closest to Hoenn.
"I hope Ruby's okay..." White said, looking up at the hospital, "I wonder why Emerald hasn't called us back yet."
"Something may have come up and made him forget." Red said, "It can happen."
"Then let's go and check on them." Silver said. The group entered the building and asked the desk attendant, who directed them to the ER, which began to worry them. Why would Ruby, or any of the others, be in the ER? Unless...
Quickly, they entered the waiting room, to be confronted with a bit of a surprise. The Sinnoh Dex Holders, Sapphire, Emerald, and even Wallace were there, waiting anxiously, along with Mumu, Feefee, Fofo, and Rara. Kiki was asleep in Sapphire's lap. The opening of the doors, turned their attention to the other Dex Holders, though.
"Thanks for coming so quick, guys!" Emerald gave a smile, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes, "Now, if only we could figure out what's going on..."
"What happened? Where's Ruby?" Green was already blasting questions. Platinum looked over to Sapphire and Emerald.
"May I?" she asked. When she got a nod from them both, she went on, "Yesterday, Ruby had called Sapphire and Emerald for an emergency, as we all know. However, upon arriving, Sapphire and Emerald found Kiki protecting a very hurt and unconscious Ruby from Nana, who, for some unknown reason, had attacked her trainer."
"She also damaged most of the pokeballs, so the others weren't able to help out." Pearl added, "We were lucky Kiki lasted as long as she had, because Nana was completely out-of-character, trying to hurt Ruby, her own trainer!" The others took this in silently.
"And Ruby?" Yellow asked quietly, at least moreso than normal.
"He got clawed deeply on the chest and was bit here." Sapphire spoke solemnly, fingering the area of her shoulder to the base of her neck, "It was pretty deep there, too. He's been in there for nearly a day now. Ee already told these guys when they came in a few minutes ago, and we didn't really feel like repeating it, so thanks, Platina." Platinum, Dia, and Pearl nodded to her as Wallace laid a hand on her own, trying to reassure the girl, before standing.
"If any of you would like, you can come with me to the Gym and I can explain a little more of what we've found out." Most of the girls and Red decided to stay to help comfort Saph and Emerald, while the others went with Wallace.
"I was a bit shocked when Emerald called me." the ex-Champion explained, "But when I heard of Ruby's injuries and the mysterious circumstances behind it, I came as quick as I could. When I arrived, I already found Sapphire and Emerald there, along with Norman. The man was as stoic as ever, but I knew he was worried over his son, and so am I, because I am his mentor. Emerald had also given him Nana's pokeball and the key to the cage mechanism, if he ever wanted to release the Mightyena. I went with him to the Gym to take a look at Nana, and we were both nearly attacked by her. So now, she is under heavy guard at the Gym, and we are now trying to decide if we should call the Gym Leaders and Champions of this region only, or involve the other regions." Wallace then shook his head, "Norman told me that Nana was raised by Ruby and himself ever since she was born, and was greatly loyal to Ruby. He couldn't understand why Nana attacked Ruby, and neither can I."
"Have you been able to find out why she could have attacked him?" Blue asked.
"The only way we will have knowledge of anything is when Ruby wakes up. He's the only lead to this mystery right now." By the time he had finished, the group had reached the Gym. On the front door was a sign that the Gym was closed for an undetermined amount of time, but Wallace pushed it open anyway. Inside, it was empty, and the ex-Champion led them to a deeper part of the Gym. As they went deeper, they could start to hear snarls and roars, until they reached the room at the very back, which usually contained the Gym Leader. Norman was there, and in the very center, the one making the snarls and roars, was Nana.
She had a muzzle on her snout and chains around her neck and feet, but the most pulling feature was her eyes. They were still the red color they would have normally seen, but were now filled with a primal rage, burning intensely. Her snout and claws, along with the fur around them, was covered in blood, which Ruby would have probably shrieked about if he had seen it and Nana not been crazed with rage. She tried to snap at the newcomers, but couldn't open her mouth wide enough, and she strained at the chains, just to get at them. The Dex Holders could now see why this was such a problem; Nana was a greatly loyal friend and pokemon to Ruby, and seeing her like this, so angry and ferocious...
"How's Ruby?" They were broken out of their thoughts by Norman, whose words, though spoken normally, carried over the sound of Nana's growls and snarls. His eyes never strayed from the chained pokemon, though the worry was evident.
"Hasn't been moved from the ER." Wallace answered, and they could see Norman's fists tighten, "The Dex Holders are here, to help with what's going on." There was no response from Norman. With a sigh, Wallace led them out of the room.
"The police are all over this case, and the professors have been asked to help as well, but..." the ex-Champion sighed again, "I'm afraid that they may not be able to solve the case in time."
"What do you mean?" Black asked.
"I'm afraid other pokemon are going to go crazy like Nana, so the case needs to be solves as soon as possible." Wallace then glanced at them, and a spark of hope appeared in his eyes, "..Kids, how would you like to help solve this mystery?"
"Depends." Gold crossed his arms, but Silver elbowed him.
"What do you need us to do?" the redhead asked.
"I want you to take part in the case and try to solve it yourselves." Wallace explained, "Start with Ruby, once he wakes up. After you do, I'll give you 72 hours, which is 3 days, to find out what's going on and stop it, if you can."
"And if we can't in those 3 days?" Crystal asked worriedly.
"Then don't become involved any more with it. However, I am quite sure that you'll be able to solve it by then." Wallace gave them a wink before walking away, back into the room where Norman and Nana were.
"Three days to solve something like this from the get-go." Blue crossed his arms with a small smirk, "I think I now know why Ruby likes him so much."
"Now that we've got this case, let's go see if Ruby's awake so we can start on it!" Gold said, and began to lead the way out of the Gym, the others following close behind.
I saw Zootopia a few days ago and thought of a few crossovers for it. This is one of them, so I hope you like it! R & R, readers!