There sure were a lot of thunderstorms in Hoenn. After three years, Ruby still wasn't sure what he thought about that. In Johto, you could use the Underground to avoid getting wet. You could watch the spectacular lightning shows from the indoors and never have to worry about getting fried. But in Hoenn, you were never sure if the quiet towns could handle the commotion. And it was impossible to go out without getting wet since there were no underground passages anywhere. On the other hand, Ruby liked the way everything smelled so fresh after a rainfall and he liked how the sun would make everything sparkle – beautiful.

That said, Ruby preferred to admire all this from the inside, where his and his Pokémon's clothes would stay dry. He grumpily pointed this out to Sapphire in their cave hideout, but she only laughed and said that he needed to go out more. Trying to ignore the discomfort of his drenched clothes sticking to his skin, Ruby told her that his idea of 'going out' didn't involve being forcibly dragged from his house in the middle of a storm and being pushed and pulled through wild shrubbery. He might as well have lectured the vines; Sapphire never listened to him when he used his "stern voice".

Ruby's grumbling eventually stopped and he pulled out another Poke doll that he had bought for the growing collection on the hideout's shelves. He watched Sapphire admire it and find somewhere to place it for a bit, then went to sit at the edge of the cave, his legs dangling out the opening. Lately, he hadn't done much (right away) to organize the cave. He liked watching Sapphire do "civilized" things like arranging Poke dolls...and he liked watching her sputter indignantly while he pointed out the many things she had done wrong ("No, no, no, you can't just put the Delcatty doll next to the Skitty doll just because they're from the same family! You should put the Ninetales doll next to the Skitty, see? Skitty's a kitten, and Ninetales is a fox. They balance out species as well as looks – Ninetales looks fiercer than Skitty! Don't you see now?")

Sapphire understood neither his decor lessons nor his reluctance to be out in nature. She often led him into the woods, pointing out her other favourite places to stay. Ruby's mother liked this very much; she told Ruby that he might get some ideas for his Contests (in reality, she thought that the two made a cute couple). Norman agreed with Sapphire that Ruby needed to get out more (actually, he just found it amusing to watch his son squirm). Professor Birch was happy that his daughter wouldn't be too lonely in her many escapades into the wild (he didn't worry about her being alone with a boy – he had a bet with Norman that Ruby would come home with bruises more often than Sapphire would come home crying; so far, nothing had happened, to the great relief of Ruby's mother, who heartily disapproved of this bet).

It wasn't that Ruby disliked being out in nature, it was just that he had had too much of Hoenn's wild side in his very first year there. He made pathetic excuses whenever Sapphire came to collect him, like wanting to stay dry. In truth, he liked spending time with her. He was starting to like battling openly again, because of her. Sapphire delighted in battling him and his Pokémon so much that she didn't even mind losing (which was about half the time, because they were so evenly matched).

Still, as much as Ruby liked being with her (edit: he liked her), he was still apprehensive whenever it rained. Sapphire loved it, though, and came for him every rainy day, making fun of the way he cringed when water landed on his hat. Ruby was surprised that she hadn't realized that he was acting yet. The real reason he was always so uncomfortable with her was because he never knew when she would bring up the...stuff they had said just before leaving Mirage Island.

"I thought ya said ya hated getting yar feet wet, Ruby!"

Ruby jumped, smacking his head on the low cave opening. He cursed, rubbing his head and turning to glare daggers at her. Sapphire sat down beside him, not bothering to conceal her giggles. "I do," he mumbled. "I just..."

"Just what?" Ruby could tell that Sapphire was enjoying his discomfort. He could also sense her preparing to spring her usual question.

"I just...I thought the rain...was, er, slowing down..." His voice trailed off lamely as a particularly loud clap of thunder rattled their ears.

She nudged him enthusiastically, making him grab a nearby vine to stop from toppling out of the cave. Ruby surreptitiously gathered more vines in his hands, trying to hide behind them. Sapphire was unpredictable, and he didn't want to find himself on his face on the forest floor because he denied remembering (again). But when she looked at him curiously (and a little angrily), he quickly let go and put his hands behind his back.

Sapphire smiled innocently as Ruby calculated possible escape routes. "Anyway Ruby, I was thinkin' about what ya said earlier. I guess I'm a little unfair when I make ya come out with me, huh?" Ruby cautiously mumbled assent, not sure where the conversation was going. "So I wanted to ask ya, what's yar idea of 'goin' out'?"

"Uh..." Ruby blinked. He really, really hoped this wasn't a trap...he decided that he would have to chance it. "Okay, to be honest..."

"Yes?" She tilted her head to the side, her eyes wide (Ruby noticed that his mom did this whenever she talked to his dad...what was with it with girls and the head-tilt?).

Ruby took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Well, I always think 'going out' is like a date, you know? A guy, like me, and a girl," Ruby cracked his left eye open, "like you." To his delight, her face was tomato-red and she was blinking rapidly in surprise (best of all, she'd stopped with the head-tilt). He opened both eyes fully, deciding that the situation was safe. He teased, "Is something wrong, Sapphire?"

She shook her head fiercely. "No! Um...I...just..." She took a quick breath and the words rushed out, "I guess I owe ya one, I think we should try it." A smile was spreading across her face, and Ruby was glad to see that she looked excited and happy. He grabbed her hand. "Great! Let's go!"

Sapphire looked taken aback for a moment, then agreed. They were just about to climb down from the cave when Sapphire stopped dead. Confused, Ruby looked at her. She looked wary. "Oh no...oh no..."

Ruby frowned. "What is it? The rain's actually slowing down now." He hoped she wasn't changing her mind.

"It's not that, it's..." Sapphire gulped. "Ya've always said ya wanted to...take me...you know..." She was unable to pronounce the dreaded words.

Ruby understood. His frown changed instantly into a devious grin as he pulled her out of the cave and to the tree they used to climb down. "Yep!"

Sapphire looked frightened now at the rather maniacal glint that leapt into his eye. "Ruby, no!" She had seen him come to the hideout after shopping all day with bags and carts of things, and then watched him as he proceeded to describe all of his transactions. God help her if she dared to interrupt his monologue – he would get huffy and brandish various items at her, nearly crying about the importance of shopping and how she never understood. He was more passionate about it than she was about battling and nature...it was truly terrifying.

He winked at her. "Too bad, Sapphire, you've already agreed. To the mall!"