Return to Hoenn
Chapter 6: A Whole Year
It was bright and early. A ship from Hoenn was docked at a harbor in Veilstone City. Ruby just arrived in Sinnoh and was looking for his fellow Dexholders.
Sapphire's father, Prof. Birch, contacted Prof. Rowan prior, to aid the contest coordinator in his quests to conquer the Pokemon Super Contest. The resident researcher asked the Sinnoh trio to accompany Ruby around the region.
"We're finally gonna meet another Dexholder!"A blonde boy wearing a green scarf exclaimed as he ran around scanning the passengers descending from the ferry.
"Another Dexholder! Another Dexholder!" excitedly echoed by a Chatot who was flying above, helping his trainer search.
"Slow down, Pearl, it's too early. I haven't even finished breakfast yet." A boy wearing a red beret followed leisurely behind him with a pastry in his hands and a Munchlax chowing down on berries at his side.
"C'mon, Dia- I mean Diamond." Pearl ran back to his friend. "Aren't you at least excited to even meet him?"
"Kinda…" Dia replied as he continued eating.
"According to Prof. Rowan, he's around our age and has won 4 contest ribbons in each category for a total of 20 ribbons. He also won previous contests in Johto," explained by a dainty dark-haired girl as she reviewed the notes the renowned Sinnoh researcher gave her, regarding their guest.
"Missy, I mean, Platina! Let me have a look!" Pearl immediately rushed to her side and took a peek at whatever the girl was reading. He saw a picture clipped on one of the pages and instinctively grabbed it.
It was a picture of a boy with crimson red eyes. He wore a white hat with a red band and matching black and red clothes and beside him was a beautiful cream-colored serpent with captivating scarlet eyes and pink and blue scales surrounding its tail.
The blonde carefully examined the image. His excitement suddenly diminished. "When I heard a boy winning Pokemon Contests, I couldn't even picture it out."
Diamond also glanced at the photo.
"Well, at the bright side, he won't be easy to miss." Pearl returned the picture to Platina and sighed in disappointment. 'I thought it was gonna be a cool dude not some prissy prince.'
"Yeah, Pearl's right. He is easy to spot." Dia gestured to a boy wearing a white hat and walking around as if he was looking for someone.
The other two were caught by surprise and turned around to the direction the carefree boy was pointing at and sure enough, they spotted Ruby. Pearl, with renewed energy, darted towards him with Chahiko, his Chatot.
*sigh* "This place is bigger than I expected." The crimson eyed boy took a moment to get used to the new atmosphere before he was jumped by a colorful bird pokemon.
"Another Dexholder!" It chattered enthusiastically while flapping around him.
"eh?!" Ruby didn't know how to respond. He didn't expect a pokemon to know he has a pokedex let alone talk.
"Chahiko! Don't surprise him like that…" The Chatot trainer popped out of the crowd with a huge grin on his face and gestured his pokemon away from the other boy. "I'm Pearl! You must be Ruby." He held out his hand to greet him.
The Hoenn trainer was still flustered but he managed to regain his composure and shook the blonde boy's hand. "Yeah, nice to meet you."
"Pearl, could you slow down once in a while?" A boy with a red beret came towards them and beside him, a dark-haired girl wearing a white bonnet.
"Diamond is correct, Pearl. You don't want to be rude to our guest," The girl said.
Ruby stared at the two newcomers particularly at the girl. She had an unexplainable presence around her. Her hair was jet-black and silky as a Mightyena's newly brushed coat. Her eyes had long eye lashes. She was extremely feminine. 'Beautiful' was the first thing that crossed his mind. He felt as if he'd seen her somewhere but he couldn't remember.
Platina smiled and began to introduce herself as well as Diamond. "Good day and welcome to Sinnoh. My name is Platina and this is my friend Diamond." She gestured to the boy beside her. Dia nodded in response. "..And you've already met Pearl and his Chatot, Chahiko."
Then it struck him. "Platina? You mean 'the' Lady Platina of the esteemed Berlitz family?!" Ruby couldn't believe he was in front of such a prestigious person. The wealthy heiress nodded, maintaining her composure.
He tidied himself. Then immediately rushed in front of her and knelt down on one knee. "It is an honor to be in the presence of someone such as you, Lady Platina." He bowed down like a knight in front a princess. The people around them started staring and whispering.
Platina was surprised but didn't show it. "Please, there is no need to be so formal," She said plainly.
"C'mon, man, get up! It's embarrassing!" Pearl grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled him up.
"Platina's right. You should just take it easy." Diamond said as he was finishing the last of his food.
The Hoenn trainer stood up straight and drew his arm away from the blonde boy. "How can you say that? Lady Platina is a prominent icon in the Sinnoh Region. Not only that she…"
Ruby continued on and on about Platina's background and biography with such detail and enthusiasm. Pearl sighed. 'He's worse than I could have imagined.' Dia listened. He found some parts interesting and more or less he was just curious. The Sinnoh girl was amused at the Hoenn trainer's exuberance.
"Alright! That's enough." Pearl who was starting to get agitated interrupted Ruby. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "To commemorate your visit to here, Dia-I mean Diamond…" Dia knew what he was gonna say and went to his side. "..And I will show you one of our famous 'manzais'!"
"..Manzia?" Ruby stopped and listened as he was curious about this particular welcoming gesture. Platina waited eagerly to hear what her two best friends come up with.
*(I'll just simplify it. I'm not that good. So here goes my attempt at a Manzai!)
Pearl: When you think of Pokemon!
Diamond: When think of Pokemon..
Pearl: You think of regions!
Diamond: Yeah, there are a lot of them…
Pearl: There's Johto, Kanto, Unova, Hoenn and Sinnoh!
Diamond: Unova-rious pokemon live in different regions…
Pear: Yup, but there are some regions that also have the same pokemon!
Diamond: I Sinnoh-t what you mean..
Pearl: Zubats as well as Pikachus can be found in Kanto, and also in Johto, Hoenn and even Sinnoh .
Diamond: Hoenn-teresting…
*(..How was it? It was worth a shot…)*
The people around them started laughing even Platina was giggling. Pearl glanced back at their guest from Hoenn. Ruby had a perplexed expression. 'Huh? What's wrong with him?!' the blonde boy thought.
"…Was that supposed to be a joke? Or something?"
Pearl couldn't take it anymore. "Seriously?! Are you that a stick in the mud?"
"Excuse me?! What do you mean a stick in the mud?!" Ruby's eyes were flaring. He was holding back as much as he could. "I dare you to say that again!"
"I think you're just some prissy little pretty boy who can't enjoy a good joke."
The two boys glared at each other. It didn't seem they were ever going to get along at all.
"Calm down you two.." Dia tried to persuade them to stop fighting.
The two looked at him angrily. "Stay out of this!"
The carefree boy flinched and backed off.
Platina took a deep breath and finally intervened. She managed to separate the two but they were still in a bad mood. Dia tried to calm his manzai partner while Platina talked to Ruby.
"I'm sorry about Pearl's behavior. He can be short-tempered sometimes but he's really nice once you get to know him." The dark-haired girl gave him a gentle smile.
Ruby took a deep breath before speaking. "It's fine. Sometimes people just snap without thinking of the consequences… I know that very well." He glanced at the pokeballs on his belt particularly at Mimi, his Milotic.
Platina noticed the tender expression he gave to his pokemon. 'He might actually be a very nice person. If we all got to know more about each other, I'm sure we'll be great friends.'
Pearl managed to regain his cool and walked back to Platina and Ruby. Diamond followed behind with Lax, his Munchlax, and Chahiko.
"Sorry… I went overboard." The blonde avoided eye contact but attempted to apologize anyway.
Ruby didn't mind his behavior. "I apologize as well. I have a lot on my mind since I've arrived." He reached out his hand to call a truce between them.
Pearl hesitated but took his hand in the end.
"So let us head over to Hearthome City," Platina suggested with a warm smile in order to lift the mood in the air. "That is where the Pokemon Super Contests are held."
"It's convenient isn't it? You won't have to travel to other cities to compete," Dia pointed out.
Ruby's expression changed. Suddenly he was serious and deep in thought. "…Actually, I had other reasons for coming here." The Sinnoh trio was confused. "We can head to Hearthome but if we could I'd prefer we take the long route."
Ruby reminisced on the day he first met Pearl, Diamond and Platina. He looked nostalgic. "Pearl and I didn't get along at first. That blonde was too hyper, short-tempered and obnoxious but after some time of traveling together, we learned a lot about each other and became friends. I also helped fix the claws of Pearl's Luxray, Rayhiko." He continued his storytelling as he was finishing Dono off with a pedicure.
Sapphire looked at him as she rested her head on her arms on Dono's back. Her mind was filled of imaginary thoughts of Pearl and Ruby. She was reminded of their relationship when they first met. They took off on the wrong foot but they became best friends in the end and possibly much more.
The crimson-eyed groomer moved on to Pilo who was lying down on the floor. He gently brushed its neck, making the Tropius more relaxed. Ruby's eyes caught the sight of the fruit growing on the sides of the leaf-winged dino's head and he was reminded of Diamond. He would have loved to eat them.
"Diamond taught me how to make poffins though I suggested on the correct flavor and Dia's the complete opposite of Pearl. Carefree, calm, and slow. I couldn't believe they were partners."
A lot happened in a year. It seems he got to meet new people, see new faces, learn new things, and experience new….love? Sapphire's jealousy shifted to a different subject. She was envious of Ruby and his newfound adventure. "I wish I could have gone ta Sinnoh too. I could have challenged the Gym leaders there. We would have made another bet!" She grinned at the last part.
Then she thought of something. It only took us 80 days to finish our goal. Why did Ruby need a whole year to be in Sinnoh. Even if the contests there were difficult, I doubt with his abilities that it would actually take that long. Why a whole year?
End of Chapter 6
I think I failed at the Manzai... Oh well. I think the fail part was funny though.
I'm gonna add a few sideline stories. Ruby centered!
I just hope I'm getting the personalities right.
Thanks for the reviews! They make me so happy and eager to write as soon as I can.
I'm glad more people are reading it... ^_^
I erased the *flashback* part. I tried making my own version of -*- but it either disappears or looks weird. *-*
Please review! I hope for more new reviewers and support from previous reviewers.