~Ruby~

To Sapph: So you just leave?

To Ruby Love: Don't you dare talk to me about "just leaving!"

To Sapph: What did you expect me to do? Leave that kid there to die?

To Ruby Love: No, but you didn't have to give him mouth to mouth! Yuck.

To Sapph: Hey I'm not saying I enjoyed it, but I saved his life.

To Ruby Love: This just isn't going to work.

To Sapph: ….

To Ruby Love: I'm sorry… But I don't even know where you are right now or anything. I'm never gonna know where you are unless you are home. And I can't have a long distance relationship. I know myself well enough to know it just won't work

To Sapph:

To Sapph: ok.

To Ruby Love: That's it?

To Sapph: Sure. If that's what is going to make you happy.

To Ruby Love: That's all you have to say?

To Sapph: Yep

To RUBY: fine :T

To Sapph: Ttyl

"She never answered her phone after that message." I grumbled, partially to myself, partially to my jogging partner; a ditzy Breloom at my side. I was rereading the conversation from the day before, when Sapphire broke up with me over text.

"Can you believe that?" I huffed, arms up at my sides like you were supposed to run, so that you wouldn't look like a floppy ragdoll. I was breathing heavily, anger making this that much easier. Sapphire was being such a bitch lately and I didn't know why. It was like she was purposefully taking things personally so she could get upset with me.

"It's like… I get it, your upset that your boyfriend ran away." I sad between breathes. "But you don't have to get all pissy because he saved a strangers life… Right Fever?" I asked at the lest second, so that I could convince myself that I wasn't asking myself these stupid questions, waiting for an answer that would never come.

Fever never minded me talking to myself, she probably spent a fair share of time talking to herself too, but that didn't mean it wasn't embarrassing for me. Had anyone else been around this early in the morning I wouldn't be doing this. But with the trees and the gravel trail the only things listening—other than Fever—I didn't care.

"Breee!" She squealed, bouncing alone step by step with her stumpy little arms locked in against her chest. Pebbles were kicking up behind her hard toes and falling loose behind us. It was like uprooting flowers when she was around. Her clumsy feet and oblivious nature, she never watched where she was going.

"Aww… who needs her." I rolled my eyes, picking up speed and heading down the path towards the river around this tiny town. I had gotten lucky, somehow, even after carrying that kid—whose name I found out to be Wally, which was such a silly name—to the hospital, no one recognized me for who I was. I had to figure either no one in that town had signal for satellite TV, or no one bothered with it anyways. Either way, it felt nice to be average like everyone else for once.

So I decided to stay. At least for the meantime I made the outskirts of Verdanturf my home. I had camped the last two nights, but was itching for a pokemon center room. Thankfully the town had one for me to get tonight. After that I suppose I would see where me feet take me.

I still hadn't called my mother, which was also part of the reason I liked it around here. No signal to call, no way for her to reach me. And how lucky I was that my texting would still go through—my mother didn't know how to text—so I still had a way to communicate if I had to. I was sure though, that if I left around here I would be flooded with calls.

"I will cross that bridge when I get to it." I muttered to myself, making Fever look up at me with an amused expression, obviously delighted with my random comments that made no sense. So long as someone was talking to her, she was happy.

"Broom broom!" She barked lightly and ran on ahead, excited with the sight of water. She loved it for some strange reason, though she was about as good a swimmer as a sandshrew.

"Be careful!" I yelled into the morning too loudly. There was a short moment before I caught up to her. She waited like a mischievous child at the bank for me to be within sight before tiptoeing into the shallow clear water.

She squealed with delight, which made me laugh under my breath. Fever may not be the strongest pokemon I ever raised, but I would take her and her undying devotion to making people happy over any of those snotty, hoity toity show pokemon that didn't know an attack from a sneeze. She was more than friendly, even with the wild pokemon that approached her, she just seemed to light up there day.

A small herd of ladyba had come and gone within the first few moments of being here, before I could even get my shoes off and my feet in the water. They buzzed around my pokemon, leaving behind a trail of pollen that smelt like heaven and honey all mixed together. I knew it was sweet scent, something that could be very dangerous in battle, but as far as I was concerned it was just a perfume to add to the mood.

Poised on a boulder I let my toes touch the cold flowing water. It wasn't more than a foot deep here, but I could see out in the middle area where it might be up to my neck or so. There were smooth stones lacing the shoreline for miles and miles down and back again, with lush forestry and shrubs concealing the life that lived below us. In that water there could be many pokemon, and I was tempted to dive in and see, but my heart told me otherwise.

I just wanted to sit on that boulder and let the sun bake my face and arms slowly. It was morning sun, much too dull to burn anything, but still hot enough to give me a tan. I sighed, twirling around the tips of my toes in the water and thinking about taking a look at my phone once again.

Knowing Sapphire she would have some nasty text to send me soon… saying how horrible I was for not ever talking to her since yesterday. But then again… she had a lot of pride on the line. I wasn't sure whether to expect her to give in or if it would be safer to text her now and get this awkward faze over with. We had been friends our whole lives… there was no reason why this separation… just because I wanted to travel and train, should affect that.

"What do you think Fever?" I whispered to my pokemon, who was slurping loudly at the water. She lifted her head and shook away the remaining drops before hearing me.

"Huuueeerr?" she cocked her head to the side and blinked.

"Should I text Sapphire?" I sighed.

The Breloom just went back to drinking from the river. I always got the feeling that Fever had short term memory loss. Sometimes she acted like it, and it wouldn't surprise me at all. The way she didn't give up when she wanted something, or the pretentious way she presented herself to the people she saw on a regular basis. It was hard to imagine she remember half the faces she ever met, so maybe now when I asked, the name didn't ring a bell. That could be why she ignored me.

"Yeah thanks." I perched my lips and rolled my eyes. There was a moment of silence inside my head before I pulled the damn thing out of my pocket and got to my messages. Sapphire was a handful, but she wasn't in any way a bad person. Sure she could be bitchy and snide and act like she was better than everyone else—and in some way she was—but there was a side to her that I knew was extremely sweet and kind. If she would just choose to show that side more often, things would be easier all around.

I glared at the empty message for a long second before flipped open the screen and typing on the keyboard.

To Sapph: Hey

I set the phone down on the rock next to me and leaned back, settling on my elbows and looking up at the pale blue sky, dotted with white fluff ball clouds. It was early, so I thought maybe she would be asleep still, but at the very least I wasn't expecting a response at all. So I was shocked when my phone vibrated to life not a moment later.

To Asshole that ruined everything: Oh so your texting me now?

I sighed. How do you respond to that kind of statement?

To Sapph: You broke up with me you know…

To Asshole that ruined everything: That doesn't give you the right to text me. Why did you anyways?

I sighed again, debating on whether to smash my phone against the boulder I sat on or throw it in the river.

To Sapph: I thought maybe we were still friends…

To Asshole that ruined everything: No, you're an asshole.

To Sapph: Alright fine. Text me when you're done being a bitch.

I glared at the phone now, turning it over and holding down the off button before she could text back. Why couldn't girls ever just be friends? Even if this was my fault… she of all people should know me better than that. She should know that I will always want to be there for her, boyfriend or not. So why was she being such a pain about it?

"Loom! Breeloo!" a sudden, high pitched shocking noise made me jump.

"Fever!" My eyes darted back and forth, seeing as though in the mix of all this texting I lost sight of my erratic pokemon.

"Fever!" I yelled louder, jumping up from the boulder I sat on an abandoning my phone.

"Brooeeelll!" the nose grew further.

"Shit." I hissed and started charging down the banks of the river. Somewhere from just beyond the bending and the twisting of the trees stretching out across the water I could see a shape bobbing up and down. It was lashing about in shock, arms too short to help and legs too clumsy to be of any use.

"Fever! Hold on!" I yelled after her, ignoring the jolts of pain in the bottom of my feet as I stepped through twigs and thorns and Arceus knows what else. I could feel with every step my feet sinking into thicker mud, and the gap between the shore and the river grew skinnier and softer.

I was nearly bounding from ground to ground as the river gushes and lapped at my feet, getting stronger and faster with every movement.

"Fever!" I gasped, seeing as though the river had sucked her under and spat her back up again. Just a little further and I could jump for her. I was a strong swimmer, even against the current I didn't down myself.

The eyes of my pokemon were blocked away by water while her front came up and her back sank down. The end of her tail floated like a fishing bobber but it seemed as though the rest of her has gained a hundred pounds with the water. Her mouth was gaping, choking, revealing the pooling water to be too much for her.

"HOLD ON!" I begged, preparing to leap from the shore into the river to save her. No way was I going to lose my pokemon. Not like this. Not ever.

And just when I thought I was in the right spot, the ground slipped out from under my feet, and I went tumbling into the water with a wail. I was flipped up and over my head and tossed back and forth like a ragdoll. The only indication of which way was up were the bubbles floating past my face, but even so I couldn't see more than fuzzy pictures in that pollen filled, moss colored water. Infuriated and horrified I kicked, letting my bare feet scramble against the rocks until I realized that I was inches from the surface.

My head broke then, and I whirled in a fit of coughing and cavernous gapsing. My eyes were foggy with water and my hat had slumped down further than it ever should have. Weighed with water to my head I was fighting the material just as much as I was fighting not to lose the thing in the current.

"Breloom!" I yelled. "FEVER!" Though all sight of her had been lost when I went under. I was a horrible trainer! How could I let this happen! All because of some stupid text messages, I hadn't been watching my pokemon. All because of Sapphire, because of me, because of my controlling mother.

From somewhere beneath the murky water I was struck, not by the force of something coming at me, but with the force of my own body against it. The river was fastest here, sucking and pushing and swallowing as I fought to keep my head above the surface. Mini rapids tore at my clothes and swished me around like someone would mouthwash.

And whatever struck me when I was pulled under again, hit hard enough to knock the wind out of me and send me gasping for air. Water lodged itself in my throat, making me sure I would drowned sooner or later. A fit of coughing UNDER the water seemed to pull me up again, with more water up my nose than ever before. It burned like no one's business.

My eyes stretched far and wide though seeing nothing beyond the murky waters that were dragging me further along. My body was starting to numb with the chill of the river as well, so each time I thought my feet may have touched the bottom; I knew I couldn't be sure. It was hard enough to feel anything with my hands while you were going a million fucking miles per hour down a river, let alone trying to grasp anything.

A solemn breath of air touched the back of my throat through my hacking and I managed to find strength in my legs. Something quite strong enough to project me over to the bank and send me in a fight against the rocks and boulders around her. Smooth with nothing to grab onto while I wanted to grab onto it so bad. Moss made everything slimy and that damn hat on my head slipped over my eyes once again, as if it was playing a nasty trick on me.

Blinded and winded I felt something—anything—finally touch my hand. And with as much concentration as I had I managed to grip the slender but hard bark of a log that somehow was in the right place at the right time. It cut open the palms of my hands, but I didn't care, for it was still rough enough to clamber onto and use as a base. Shaking and panting I hauled myself forward, kicking out with what little strength I had in order to pull myself forward to the bank.

Springy grass felt like heaven under my fingers as I finally reached the side. It took every bit of will power to lob myself up, but I did it and I was damn happy. Miles down the river from where I started and no Fever in sight, I was still shocked that I lived through that. The raging waters looked so calm from the shore…

"Errr…" I groaned, trying to bring myself to my feet once again. I had to find Fever… I had to. That pokemon couldn't swim for her life, and though water wasn't fatal to a grass type like herself, that didn't mean she wasn't capable of drowning. I flinched at the thought and used it as motivation to get up and get moving.

"Fe-Fev—Fever!" My teeth chattered as I ran sluggishly along the now rocky shore line. It was harder on my feet, but safer. At least this way I knew I wouldn't fall in. Where did she go? The river was wider here and shallow… could she have washed past this part already? How long was I in there anyways?

"Fever!" I rasped. Here my voice… here it and respond to me so I know you're alive… But horror was building in my chest like the water did around the bank. It threatened to flood over and make me drown with grief.

"Fever…" a rush of water gurgled up out of my mouth and made me flinch. My stomach curled with an unpleasant twist and made me gag. Too much river water… too many cuts. I was leaving blood behind me while I stumbled along.

"Over—here!"

MY head swam with lightheadedness and I was sure that was my own mind talking to me—maybe even me talking to myself. The voice was foreign though, stronger than my half-drowned rasp could have ever sounded. The forest was just a wall of fuzzy green around me while I turned to face the voice, down the bank, further, further through the mass of splotches and waterlogged figures.

"Fever." I grunted, squinting to see as I approached a wide open patch of light green grass. It was up to my knees and ticklish while I floundered through it to the voice.

"Ruby—

My name? For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn't flinch when I heard that name…

"Is this your Breloom?"

I stumbled to my knees beside the fuzzy figures and reached out in sweet relief. "Fever." I whispered and wrapped my arms around the limp exhausted pokemon. "I—I'm so sorry Fever." I muttered, turning my eyes over to her rescuer.

The fuzziness in my eyes passed almost as soon as it had come, and though the face I looked at still spun, I could make out the same large pale blue eyes and small nose and lips that I had seen only two days before.

"Thank you." I sighed, completely shocked, but too grateful to let it be a problem. I held my pokemon's face in my hands lightly while she made a soft irritated gurgling noise. My eyes searched the pale blue ones for an answer, but I only found panic there.

"Wally?" I said the name out loud for the first time. I knew who he was, but I didn't know him, and yet he was looking at me as if he had known me his whole life.

"Ruby." He coughed and turned his head away, taking a long hard deep breath and bringing the back of his hand up to collect the drip of thick blood from his nose. "I—I want to—he sniffed back up, unfazed as he could be.

"Thank- I hiccupped, my stomach upset and growling.

"You—we spoke at the same time, saying the same thing in the most different kind of ways possible. He looked away then, hiding his face from me and shuddering out another shaky breath. I heard a faint gasp as he tried to steady himself. Blood dripped past his face into the grass for a second before his brought his hand up and cupped it over his mouth and nose. He looked back at me, sad amusement clogging his eyes.

"You're welcome." Was all he said. And I couldn't, not for the life of me, understand.

He laughed.